Luke Danes Meets His Match
by deepfriedcake
Summary: A sequel to Lorelai Victoria Got Pregnant. Several weeks after their brief encounter, Luke can't get the beautiful, crazy lady from an alternate reality out of his head. He goes to find Lorelai – only to discover that the Lorelai in his universe no longer remembers him. Will he walk away, or try to forge a new friendship? (Highly recommend reading the original first for clarity.)
1. Hi, Remember Me?

**Hi, Remember Me?**

* * *

" _If you ever want to hear more about that other reality, come look me up."_

Those were the words that came to torture him every night. Her beautiful sapphire eyes, tinged with sadness, filled his sleep-deprived brain. He couldn't stop thinking about how she'd managed to smile so tenderly, even through her tears. And then, those mile-long legs…

Luke squirmed uncomfortably, well-aware that his wife was asleep right beside him. Automatically he launched the same pep talk he'd given himself every night since encountering the crazy, beautiful lady back behind Gypsy's garage. All he was doing was remembering, he insisted to himself, and remembering didn't mean he was going to do anything about it. After all, he'd given the business card right back to her. He certainly wasn't going to cheat on Rachel. What he'd told the strange woman that day was true. That wasn't who he was.

 _But…_

Surely there was no harm in recalling the details, was there? How often did you meet someone claiming to live in an alternate reality? It was weird and disturbing and deserved to be reflected upon. Anybody would find it hard to forget the crazy lady. And obviously, she _was_ crazy. In fact, maybe she was _so_ crazy that it was actually his duty to follow up? What if she jumped off a balcony someday? Or took people hostage in a grocery store? What if she hurt not only herself, but other people, too? How would he feel then, knowing he could have prevented a tragedy?

That's where it all got murky. He could never quite convince himself that his interest in her was merely for the good of mankind, to protect innocent bystanders.

So he shifted then to the Jess angle of the encounter. She'd known Jess – or at least, acted as if she had. She was willing to talk about him. That was different from everyone else in town, all those who seemed glad to pretend he never existed. If there was no Jess, nobody had to say anything about his dead nephew. Erasing Jess made it easier for all of the residents of Stars Hollow.

Luke stifled a sigh. No matter how much he deflected, he knew the truth. He'd like to talk to her again. He'd like to hear about that other Stars Hollow. He'd like to have one person who was willing to talk to him about Jess. Someone who'd secretly admired his nephew's smart-assedness, he thought, smiling in the dark as he recalled her description.

But he'd given her back her business card. So that was that.

Luke closed his eyes. He remembered turning that card over and over in his hands, and seeing her name over and over, too. Hartford. The McCain Advertising Agency.

He wasn't much for computers. He'd staged more than one rant about the evil overlords of technology just itching to take over the world. However, even he knew you could go to the library. He knew how to log on. He knew how to use Google.

It was far too simple to look up a name. Child's play to find the address of a business.

Good thing he wasn't the type of guy to make use of that knowledge.

He turned over on his side, as far away from Rachel as possible.

* * *

"Wow, you look nice." Rachel halted in the dining room, frowning at his blue dress shirt. "What's going on?" she wanted to know, as she ripped the order she'd just jotted down off of the pad.

"I thought I told you. Bank meeting," Luke lied, barely able to get the words out of his dry throat. He bent down, pretending to tie one of his shoes. No way could he do this if he had to look at her, too.

Rachel shrugged. "Maybe you did." She reached for him, and for one soul-chilling second, Luke thought she meant to kiss him goodbye. Instead, she brushed a piece of lint from his arm. Oblivious to his panic, she started towards the kitchen. "When will you be back?"

He repeated the words he'd been practicing in his head. "Before dinner rush. I thought I'd swing by the restaurant supply place and pick up some things while I was in town."

"Yeah, good idea." Rachel nodded, and added another notation to the ticket before handing it off to Caesar. "Well, see you later."

"Yeah, see you later," Luke mumbled, and almost ran out of the diner's door.

Maybe he had it in him to be that guy after all.

* * *

Luke knew enough about downtown Hartford to locate the correct street. He found a place to park his lovingly restored pickup truck. Once in the building, he knew he needed to take the elevator up to the eighth floor. After that, he wasn't sure what would happen.

When he reached the eighth floor, he took a moment, realizing that he stood at a crossroads. Right now, he could still get back into the elevator and return to Stars Hollow, with no stain on his conscience. This attempted trip into alternate reality would be nothing but the barest blip on his timeline. Nothing would change.

Everything could stay exactly the same…if that's what he wanted.

He ran his palm over his head, smoothing back his hair. Since he normally wore a hat in the diner, it was disconcerting to be without it. He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and walked over to the receptionist.

"Hi," he said, catching the busy woman's eye. He ducked his head to one side and smiled. An old girlfriend had once told him he could get anything he wanted by doing that.

The receptionist blinked at him twice. "Hi," she parroted back at him, before giving her head a small shake. "Uh, welcome to the McCain Agency. May I help you?"

"I'd like to see Lorelai Gilmore, please," Luke said with as much confidence as he could.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I was hoping that she could squeeze me in for just five or ten minutes." He was having trouble maintaining the smile.

The receptionist studied him again, then picked up the phone, punched in a few numbers, and murmured several words into the receiver. "Go down that first hall to your right," she told him, after replacing the phone. "It will be the second office."

"Thanks," Luke said. He tried not to sprint to the hallway.

 _Lorelai Gilmore_ , the placard beside the second office announced. But it wasn't that easy. A secretary still stood between him and Lorelai's actual office.

"May I help you?" the woman asked, getting up from her desk. "I'm Nancy Asher, Ms. Gilmore's assistant. Unfortunately, she does have several meetings on her schedule today. Could we set another time? Or could you give me an idea what you need to see her about?"

Lying was _so_ not Luke's thing, but desperation made him glib. "We have a mutual friend, and I've been worried about him lately. I was hoping maybe I could talk to her for just a minute or two, see if she's noticed anything off about him too." He tried a thoughtful, concerned smile this time.

Nancy seemed to be sizing him up. "May I tell her your name?"

"Luke Danes."

Nancy nodded. "If you'll just wait a minute here, please." She knocked on the inner door, opened it, and stepped inside, but the door didn't close completely behind her.

"Lorelai, there is the _cutest_ guy out here to see you!" Nancy spoke in a low voice, but Luke could still hear her.

" _Cute?_ Oh, God – it's not Christopher again, is it?"

Hearing her voice gave him a thrill, but then he frowned. Who the hell was Christopher?

"No. Forget cute. Handsome. He's handsome. Tall, broad shoulders, chiseled chin. _Great_ eyes, even better smile. Listen, I told him you were busy. Why don't I just handle it for you?"

Lorelai chuckled. "I don't think so, girlie."

Nancy sighed. "Well, I gave it my best shot. His name's Luke Danes."

"Okeydokey, send him in."

Luke jumped back as the door pushed open. "Mr. Danes? Come on in."

He entered the office. Lorelai was in the process of walking out from behind her desk. "Mr. Danes? Hi," she said, holding out her hand to him. She smiled directly into his eyes, and he caught his breath.

Seeing her again almost made him dizzy. It was an incredible relief to see that she was real. He'd been half afraid he'd fantasized the whole encounter. Also, she was just as gorgeous standing before him as she was in his memory. He'd wondered if he'd embellished her beauty each time he'd replayed their meeting in his head. It turned out he had not. She was a certified knockout.

"H-hi," he stammered back, hesitantly grasping her hand for a moment.

She tilted her head, still smiling, studying him. "Last month at the mayor's breakfast, right?"

"I'm sorry – what?"

"We met at city hall, at the mayor's breakfast, right?"

"No." He felt the nervous tension returning. "I'm…I'm Luke Danes."

"Oh, my mistake! It was at one of my mother's things, wasn't it?" She bobbed her head, her smile turning apologetic. "The fundraiser for the pediatric unit?"

He licked his lips uneasily. "No, I'm Luke. From Stars Hollow."

"That's like the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, right?"

"No." Panic was beginning to bubble through him. "I'm – Look, it doesn't matter. Obviously, this was a mistake. Sorry I bothered you."

He turned to run away from his humiliation, but she caught his arm. She was a lot stronger than she looked.

"Wait. Please." She stepped in front of him and gazed at him seriously, the smile gone. "You think I _should_ know you, don't you?"

"You do. You – you did. You came to Stars Hollow, to find me."

Her eyes darted over his face. "When was this?" she asked soberly.

"Two weeks ago Wednesday."

Lorelai breathed in sharply. She moved over to her desk and leaned her hands on the surface, staring at a calendar. "I lost a day, a couple of weeks ago. Two weeks ago Wednesday, actually." She looked back over her shoulder at him. "It freaked out everybody who knows me, and I have absolutely no memory of the entire day."

"And that's not, I don't know – a normal occurrence for you?"

"No," she said, chuckling. "I'm not in the habit of channeling Ray Milland from _Lost Weekend_." She turned around and rested a hip against her desk. "And before you ask, I wasn't sick, I wasn't delirious from fever, I wasn't drunk, I wasn't taking anything for either medicinal or recreational purposes. I just had 24 hours disappear from my consciousness without warning and for no apparent reason."

Luke forced himself to consider what she'd said, instead of immediately jumping to conclusions. "That sounds terrifying."

She sent him a look of gratitude. "It was. It is. I keep worrying that it might happen again. I wonder if I need to go get an MRI or something. Have somebody poke at the inside of my head. The thing is, though, I feel fine. But maybe that's what all crazy people say, that they're fine. I mean, isn't that the whole thing about being crazy? The crazy never know they're crazy?"

"That day, you said you knew how crazy it all sounded."

She regarded him seriously again. "I came looking for you? You, specifically?"

Luke nodded. "As far as I know."

"Where was this?"

"Stars Hollow."

Lorelai shook her head. "I don't even know where that is."

"It's about thirty minutes northeast from here."

"Why would I do that?" Lorelai muttered, mostly to herself. Luke shifted uncomfortably, and she observed it, frowning. "Do _you_ know why I did it?"

"I only know what you told me. Frankly, the reason I came here today was because I was hoping to get some answers from you." He sighed. "It was sort of a disturbing experience for me, too."

She laughed again. "I can only imagine. Poor you, being accosted by some random crazy lady."

He smiled softly. "It wasn't all bad."

"No?" She smiled back. "Listen, do you have time to let me pick your brain about whatever happened that day? Could we maybe go get lunch?"

Luke hesitated. Lunch seemed slightly frivolous and infinitely more dangerous than a sensible fact-finding mission to her office.

"It's fine if you don't want to," she said hurriedly. "I'm just anxious to fill in the gaps, and for obvious reasons, I really don't want to talk about this here at my job. I'm thinking that the less my boss knows about my unfortunate memory lapse, the better."

"Um, sure. Lunch is fine," Luke confirmed, shaking off his concerns.

She jumped away from her desk and retrieved her purse from a cabinet along a wall. "Now I just need to come up with a good story about why we're leaving."

"Well, I told your assistant that I needed to see you about a mutual friend, someone I was worried about."

"Ooh, excellent!" She grinned at him. "I like the way you can lie on your feet. Maybe we've got some things in common after all."

"I _don't_ lie, as a rule," Luke told her coldly. "In fact, everything I'm doing today is way outside of my comfort zone."

"Sorry." Lorelai held up her hands. "I'm not trying to imply anything about your character. I'm just glad you've already provided a reason for us to take off together."

Luke was ready to protest again, not liking the way _take off together_ sounded to his ears, but then he had to admit that was exactly what they were doing, and that he should be grateful it was. This was what he wanted. He came here to get some answers from her.

Lorelai said a few words to her assistant. He overheard her say something about 'our friend Clyde,' and assumed she was embellishing the lie he'd started. Then he saw her give a sly wink.

"Thanks, Nance. Call me if something comes up you can't handle. Otherwise I'll be back by 3."

While they waited for the elevator, he gave her a cool look of judgement. "So is 'Clyde' a code word for when you want to blow off work for the afternoon?"

Every bit of sunniness left her demeanor. "Look, Mr. Danes, no matter what happened a couple of weeks ago between us, you don't know me. I work damn hard, and I'm good at it. There's a reason I've got a corner office. If I miss a couple of hours today, I assure you that I'll more than make them up the next time I'm facing a deadline. You're not my boss, and my work habits don't concern you. If my ethics aren't good enough for you, feel free to cut and run. I'll go get lunch on my own."

Her sudden irritation broke through his attitude. "Sorry. I didn't…" He shook his head, not looking at her. "I'm aware that I'm not helping myself here. I'm nervous about all of this, being here, talking to you. This is undoubtedly the most bizarre situation I've ever landed in. I have a habit of snapping at people when I'm on edge. Sorry," he repeated. "I don't mean to be taking it out on you."

He sensed her acceptance of his explanation. "It _is_ bizarre," she agreed, cheerful again. "Can't argue with that."

Once they reached the street, Lorelai pulled sunglasses out of her purse and put them on. "Is it OK if I drive?"

"Sure, if you want to."

She headed for a parking lot next to the building, and he followed her. She gave him a swift glance. "You seem like a normal, decent guy as far as I can tell, but it's probably safer if I'm driving. Just in case you turn out to be a deranged murderer, or something."

Luke stopped in his tracks, stunned that someone could look at him and think _deranged murderer_. "I can drive myself, if that makes you feel better. Just tell me where to meet," he suggested, his voice frosty.

"Nah." She grinned at him, but the sunglasses hid her eyes. "I'm kidding around – mostly. Besides, I've gotten pretty good at weeding out the serial killers over the years."

She walked to the rear of a black car and opened the trunk, sifting through the items stored there. "Oh, good, it's still here!"

"What?"

"The blanket from last summer's company picnic."

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. "Gonna use that to hide my lifeless body? How do I know you're not the serial killer?"

She took no offense from his words, and instead measured him from head to toe with her eyes. "I think you're safe. I'm pretty sure this blanket isn't big enough to do a good job of hiding your corpse." She scanned the trunk. "Also pretty sure you wouldn't fit in the trunk, either."

"Sounds like you've given body disposal a lot of thought."

"Not really. Just a lot of CSI and Law and Order reruns." She grinned. "What I really thought was that maybe we'd hit a drive-thru and have an impromptu picnic at a park." She closed the trunk and moved to the driver's side door as she talked. "I'm thinking that's better than taking the chance of anyone overhearing what's bound to be our _bizarre_ conversation in a restaurant."

"Yeah, that's probably best," he agreed, moving to the passenger side of the car. When he heard the lock release, he opened the door and climbed inside.

Lorelai expertly backed out of the tight parking spot, exited the lot, and drove a couple of blocks down the street to a fast food restaurant. There was something about the way she navigated the 90 degree turn into the drive-thru lane that made Luke think she'd done it many, many times.

"I'll have the number five with extra cheese, an order of jalapeno poppers, two cherry pies, and an extra-large coffee with cream." She turned to Luke. "What would you like?"

He felt his eyes bugging out as he stared at her. "That's all for you?"

"No, I'm also feeding the family of gnomes who live in the back seat." He sensed her rolling her eyes. "Now, what do you want?"

He leaned down, trying to see past her at the menu board. "Do they have a salad?"

"You're killing me here," she grumbled. "Yes, they have salads." She pointed at the bottom of the board.

"Just a plain salad," he said, unable to read the small section of the menu from his vantage point.

She sighed. "Let's have one of the salads with chicken strips," she ordered, before turning to him again. "What kind of dressing?"

"I don't need any dressing."

She pursed her lips before swiveling back to the microphone in the menu board. "With both ranch and bleu cheese, please."

"I don't –"

"Do you want coffee?" she asked, cutting off his protest.

"No, I don't drink coffee. Water's fine."

"You don't drink coffee!" Her mouth dropped open. "What kind of a monster are you?"

"There's nothing wrong with not wanting to put caffeine in your body," he muttered.

"Caffeine is our friend," Lorelai said primly. She drove the few feet to the first window, and waved off his attempt to pay. "Caffeine keeps us perky and lovable, even in the meetings that go on and on and _on_."

At the second window, their drinks were handed to them first. Lorelai put her coffee in the cupholder where she could easily grab it. "I'm a coffee fiend," she admitted. "I have to have a cup always readily available or I feel anxious."

"The anxiety is probably from too much caffeine. You should try to cut back," Luke felt compelled to tell her.

"Yeah, probably." She smiled easily at him. "Not gonna happen, though."

He couldn't help but smile back. "I make coffee all day long."

"But you don't drink it? I'm confused."

"I own a diner, in Stars Hollow, so that's a big part of my day. Making pot after pot of coffee. I've been told it's pretty good," he told her, with a bit of pride.

"Oh my God, a real diner? Like with burgers and chili fries and pies underneath the plastic domes?"

Luke chuckled. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"No wonder I came to find you that day. You're the guy of my dreams."

Luke said nothing to that, and Lorelai went quiet for a few moments.

"Actually…" she said tentatively, then stopped. "I wonder if…" she tried again, but also let that thought die.

"What?" he encouraged her.

She sighed. "That day. The day I lost. People told me things that happened. And apparently, I was just about to take a swallow of coffee during a meeting, when I freaked out." She shrugged, her eyes on the road. "I dropped the coffee and it spilled everywhere. I ran out after that and I have no idea what I did for the rest of the day." She glanced over at him for a second. "But now I wonder…"

Luke nodded. "If the coffee triggered some kind of memory?"

"Yeah." She shifted uneasily in her seat. "When did I show up in your town?"

"In the afternoon. It was maybe 3 o'clock or so when you talked to me?"

"Did I go to your diner?"

"No, we met over by Gypsy's garage."

"Ooh, that sounds fancy," Lorelai mocked.

She pulled into a lot for a city park. Since it was lunchtime, there were a lot of cars. They collected their food and the blanket from the trunk, and walked away from the majority of people sitting at benches or picnic tables.

"Is this OK?" Lorelai pointed at a spot close to a small grove of pine trees. "We can spread the blanket here, and sit in the sun until we get too hot, then we can shift into the shade."

"Good idea," Luke agreed, and helped her position the blanket on the ground.

Once settled, Lorelai wasted no time digging into her family-sized meal. Luke smiled to himself as he tried out the salad. She was eating _with_ _gusto_ , his mother would have said.

"You're really not going to use the salad dressing?" she asked him, her mouth full.

"No, it's pretty good the way it is."

"Psychopath," she muttered.

He grinned and stabbed another forkful of greens.

They were seated opposite each other on the blanket, with their legs running parallel between them. Lorelai had kicked off her heels when she sat down, and her bare feet and legs were right beside him. He deliberately focused his concentration on eating his salad and chicken, and not on the smooth, endless skin next to him.

"How's this for an idea?" Lorelai wiped off her mouth and fingers with some of the paper napkins she pulled out of the bag. "Why don't we take turns telling each other about that day? Maybe we can draw some conclusions about what happened if we share information."

"I didn't think you remembered any of it."

"I don't, but it's just like with the coffee thing. People told me stuff afterwards."

"Then, sure. Go for it."

She popped the last crumbled piece of cherry pie into her mouth, drank some coffee, and then leaned back on her elbows. "According to my mother, I came downstairs, committing the horrible sin of still being in my pajamas –"

"Wait – you live with your _mother_?"

Lorelai had taken off the shades, so it was easy to see her glare. "Yeah, I do. You wanna make something of it?"

Luke shrugged, smirking a bit. "You just don't seem like someone who'd still be living at home."

For a moment she seemed ready to fight, but then her shoulders relaxed, and she sighed. "It's a temporary thing. I went through a divorce, not that long ago."

"Sorry," Luke said, wincing at his unintended jab.

"No, it's fine." She waved a hand in the air, letting bygones be bygones. "I'd had my own place forever, but when I got married, I foolishly sold my condo. Thought I needed to show how committed I was to the relationship." She blew out a breath of air. "Boy, I sure got that wrong."

"Sorry," he said again.

"How long have you been married?" Lorelai asked him, nodding at his hands. That was when he realized that he'd been nervously twisting the silver band on his finger.

"Going on four years." He deliberately placed his hands on his knees, so he wouldn't be tempted to spin the ring yet again.

"Pretty long time," she commented.

"Yeah." His thoughts were going down a different path. "How long were you married before you knew it was a mistake?"

"Hmm, that's hard to pinpoint. Maybe by the time we cut the cake at the reception?"

His head jerked up to stare at her. "Are you joking?"

"Yeah, I am. It was probably right after I said 'I do.'"

"Come on."

"No, Luke, that's probably spot-on. Christopher and I –"

"Oh, Christopher is your ex!" he blurted out.

She frowned. "You know him?"

"No, of course not." He grimaced, hating the predicament he'd gotten himself into. "I heard – I overheard some things your assistant said in your office. I heard you say something about Christopher," he admitted.

"Oh!" She smiled shamelessly. "Nance was totally crushing on you. She must have missed the wedding band."

He felt his cheeks heating up so he reached for the bottle of water.

"Anyway, Chris and I had been a thing forever. We were pals even as kids because our families were together all the time. We went to the same schools. It was an easy transition to being boyfriend/girlfriend when the time came. Eventually everyone just expected us to get married – especially my mother," Lorelai grouched.

"You got married young?" Luke theorized.

"No, we got married _late_." Lorelai shook her head. "Just last fall. Chris wanted to, as soon as we finished college, but I kept putting him off. I wanted to get my MBA. I wanted us to have good jobs. I wanted to make sure we had a nest egg."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Except that I don't think it had anything to do with being prudent and cautious. Now I think I just didn't want to marry him."

"Why did you, then?"

"Because one day I realized how old I was." She shrugged. "I realized that if we were going to do it, we needed to do it _now_."

"You weren't already living together?"

"No, I liked my space. I liked being able to do everything my way. I liked having sole control of the remote."

Luke chuckled at her wry comment. He was discovering that he appreciated her humor.

She sighed again. "My mother was over the moon. _Finally_ , you know? And I found out that I'm really, really good at planning weddings. I loved every bit of that part. It was exhilarating, finding the best deal on flowers, negotiating with the caterer. I tell you, I was in _the zone_!" She stared at him. "But then, the actual wedding day came, and I was…empty. This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but instead I realized I'd made the worst mistake of my life. I felt like such a failure."

"That sounds brutal."

"Yeah. Nobody understood. Well…my dad didn't fight me on it. He seemed…accepting, I guess. But everyone else – wow. They all thought I'd lost my mind." She chuckled ruefully. "Maybe it was the precursor of my crazy lost day, I don't know." She pointed again at his hands, and he startled, finding that he was still mindlessly fiddling with his wedding ring. "Your marriage is happy, right?"

"I think so," he said, without thought. "Maybe?"

"You don't know?" she asked, curious.

He stared at her, and felt the odd compulsion to spill his guts. "I guess our story has some similarities to yours, in that Rachel and I dated when we were young. We were a thing through high school, through college. I thought we were on the same page about marriage, but Rachel didn't want to stay in Stars Hollow. She said I was unreasonable, to expect her to stay in Stars Hollow instead of going where she could get a job."

"What's she do?"

"Photographer. And she's good at it, too. Maybe too good." Luke picked up his bottle of water and stared at it. "First she got a job in Hartford, so that barely made a difference for us. Then Boston. That was harder, but still doable. Then Chicago. Then San Francisco. Then Europe. After that, it was wherever the urge took her."

Lorelai blinked, taking in what he'd said. "Wow, sounds like she had some success."

"Yeah, definitely," he said grudgingly.

"She didn't want you to be there with her?"

He looked up, surprised at her question. "Well, yeah…I mean, I think she did. That's not…" He paused, trying to get his thoughts together. "That wasn't what we fought about. The issue was that I didn't want to go." He paused again. "OK, so that sounds terrible," he commented, suddenly hearing what he'd said from Lorelai's point of view.

"It does," she agreed, smiling kindly at him.

"It's not that I didn't want to be with her," he clarified. "It was just that I needed to stay in Stars Hollow. I had family responsibilities. I had a business. I couldn't just go gallivanting around the globe without a care."

"Hmm." Lorelai studied him. "The long-distance thing didn't work out?"

"No. We did try, for a while. But the longer the distances got, the more impossible it was to maintain." Luke met Lorelai's thoughtful gaze. "It got to where it seemed like I was supposed to make all of the compromises while she just kept on doing whatever she wanted, and finally I just said the hell with it, you know?" He shook his head. "I put up a wall and ignored her, went on with my life. I dug in. I can be pretty stubborn," he admitted. "It's probably not one of my better characteristics."

"Yes, shame on you. I myself am very flexible. As long as everything goes my way, I'm completely flexible."

He grinned at her. Yeah, he definitely liked her sense of humor.

"So what changed?" Lorelai questioned. "What brought her back?"

"I don't…I don't really know." Luke thought back to that day in the diner, where he looked up and Rachel was standing there. "She said she was changing planes at Logan and suddenly had the urge to come see me."

"Aww, that's pretty sweet, Luke."

"Guess so," he agreed, hunching his shoulders and twisting the cap on the water bottle.

"Had you moved on? Did you not want her back by then?"

Again, he was disconcerted by her intuition. "Not moved on, no. But maybe I was past what we had? Maybe I'd gotten used to everything the way it was? I'm not sure. I was happy to see her. It was good to see her again, I won't lie about that."

"She wanted to get your relationship on track again?"

"She said she was back for good, that she wanted to stay with me this time," he said, his words sounding slightly bitter.

Lorelai's eyebrows rose at his tone. "Did that not prove true?"

"No, it did. She's stayed. I just –" He cut himself off, shaking his head as he contemplated what he wanted to say next. "I didn't believe her. I still don't believe her."

"But she _did_ stay. You married her!"

"I know," Luke muttered.

"Has she indicated that she wants to leave?"

"No," he had to admit, still sounding cranky. "Sometimes, I guess I wish there would have been a reason for me to back out when she returned. You know, if I'd already fallen in love with someone else, maybe, or had more of a backbone, or something. But she was there, saying the right things, and there wasn't any reason for me to oppose it. So she moved in with me, and after a couple of months we got married." He shrugged. "It sort of seemed like once we started down that path, there was no getting out of it."

"Does she still do her photography?"

"No. At first, she picked up some freelance stuff now and then, but now…" Luke worried his bottom lip with his teeth. "Honestly, I can't remember the last time I saw her with a camera."

"She's OK with that?"

"I don't know."

"You don't _know_?" Lorelai looked disbelieving. "What's she doing now?"

"She works in the diner."

"You're kidding." Lorelai laughed, and not in a good way. "She went from globe-trotting photojournalist to slinging hash?"

Luke let a glare be his reply.

"She's happy?"

"I don't know," he repeated, digging in.

"You do too," Lorelai insisted. "Of course you know."

He refused to answer.

"Let's go at this from the opposite way. Are _you_ happy?"

Again, she surprised him with the question, enough so that he looked for an honest answer. "I'm not…unhappy. I guess that for the most part, I just feel sort of stuck. It feels like I'm existing, but not really living." He grimaced at what he'd just said. "Somebody better call Dr. Phil. Getting pretty new-agey here."

"Hey, do not diss Dr. Phil."

"The guy's a quack," he said dismissively. "What, you're in his corner? You've got all of his books on your shelf, with the important parts all highlighted?"

"Maybe if I did, I'd still be married."

"No, you wouldn't be," Luke said immediately.

"How do you know that?"

"Just from what you said. The way you are. You seem pretty steady, pretty sure of yourself. You don't seem to have any doubts that you did the right thing in ending your marriage."

"I do?" Lorelai asked, almost wistfully.

" _Do_ you have doubts?" Luke asked, genuinely curious.

Lorelai picked up the empty hamburger wrapper and began to pleat it with her fingers. "Doubts? No, I guess I don't actually have any doubts. I just wish I'd never suggested we go ahead and get married in the first place."

Luke felt a shiver of recognition waft down his back. "Bingo," he said slowly. "See, that's what I was saying about me and Rachel. I just wish it hadn't ended up the way it did."

Lorelai's china blue eyes found his, and some sort of unspoken acknowledgement passed between them.

She cleared her throat and looked away. "Well, this has been a depressing conversation so far."

"Yeah," he agreed, his voice gruff.

"And we haven't even talked about what we're supposed to be talking about yet."

"I guess we got off track, didn't we?"

"Yeah." She grinned at him. "Not that it wasn't a good talk."

"Just not on the agenda." He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, trying to get comfortable. "So you came downstairs and met your mother," he reminded her, jump-starting their real talk again.

"Still in my pajamas," she said, the smile remaining on her lips. "Don't forget that important detail. In the Gilmore household, that is an unforgivable sin."

"Whoa, tough house."

"Now you know why I moved out and had my own place as soon as I could. I like being in my pajamas."

"Well, sure, who doesn't?" Luke asked dryly.

"You don't strike me as the lounging-around-the-house type."

He smiled, agreeing with her assessment.

"You _do_ have a great smile," she mumbled, staring at him. "Nance was right about that."

He ducked his head, hoping to deflect the praise.

"Moving on," she said. "A little bit ago, you said I was steady and sure of myself. What are the odds you'll still think that after we get through with our reminiscing?"

He took in her bright eyes and pretty smile. His self-esteem was at an all-time high, just from the way she was so focused on him. "I'd say the odds are pretty good," he predicted.

 _ **TBC…**_

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Happy New Year! I hope everyone is ready to suspend their disbelief, because this is a weird one! Alternate timelines, different Lukes and Lorelais, and a slightly changed Stars Hollow to boot. My favorite part of the original story was the bittersweet meeting between out-of-sync Lorelai and skeptical Luke, who nonetheless felt a connection to her and yearned to help her. Afterwards I felt terrible for _that_ Luke, who was missing a life with his true love and didn't even know it. Obviously, I can't stand for any Luke and Lorelai to be apart, and this story aims to rectify that. Let me know if you like it, and feel free to shoot me any questions if you're confused about the altered timeline. I'm predicting at least four chapters, maybe more if the muse stays with me.

Also, thanks to **Eledgy** , who's signed on to beta this one for me. She's going to make sure I keep all of the timeline stuff straight. _"Reunited and it feels so good!"_


	2. Putting the Pieces Together

_Luke and Lorelai continue their talk, filling in the gaps about their most peculiar first meeting…_

* * *

"A little bit ago, you said I was steady and sure of myself. What are the odds you'll still think that after we get through with our reminiscing?" Lorelai challenged him.

"I think the odds are pretty good," Luke said confidently. He smiled encouragingly at the woman sitting across from him on the picnic blanket, the one who was no longer a complete stranger. True, she probably _was_ a little crazy, but he was finding that the status of her mental health concerned him less and less the more he got to know her.

"Then here we go!" Lorelai said, sounding determined. She sat up straight and pushed her hair behind her ears. "I arrived downstairs, in my p.j.s, noticeably confused and agitated, according to my mother. Apparently I spied the wedding portrait she insists on keeping on the mantle and screamed my head off."

"From your wedding?" Luke questioned.

"Yeah, a super posed one of me and Chris from the big day. Mom doesn't seem to think having it displayed in a place of honor is in any way awkward for me."

"You were upset because it was there?"

"No, Mom says I acted like I'd never seen it before. Like it was a huge surprise to find out I'd married him."

"Oh," Luke said quietly, re-evaluating the crazy aspect.

"She thought I should calm down, eat breakfast and get ready for work, but instead I started yelling for someone named Rory."

Luke nodded. "Right. Your daughter."

Lorelai stared at him, her face paling noticeably. "How do you know that?"

"You told me. You said you had a daughter named Rory, and you thought she'd been in love with my nephew Jess."

In a panic, she scrambled to her feet. "Is that true?"

"Is what true?" Luke wasn't sure if he should stay seated or get up, just in case he needed to subdue her.

"About Ror – that girl. Being in love with your nephew."

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

The constant knife of guilt twisted a little bit in his heart. "Because unfortunately, I didn't talk much to Jess the last couple of years of his life."

Lorelai drew in a shaky breath. "Oh, no. He's dead?"

Luke nodded, and Lorelai weakly plopped back down on the blanket, as if she no longer had the energy to be on her feet. "Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry."

He shrugged stoically. There really wasn't anything to say back to that without revealing a lot more than he wanted to at the moment.

"I'm sorry he's gone, and I'm sorry that me bringing him up probably caused you pain."

"Actually…" He shook his head and looked down at his clasped hands. "It was kind of nice to hear his name again. There aren't many people willing to talk about him."

Lorelai looked distraught. "How could I have known about him? How did I even know his name? Why would I say that – this girl, Rory, whoever – was in love with him?"

"I take it you don't have a daughter?"

"No," she whispered. She pushed her hair back, thinking. "If you don't mind me asking, how old was Jess?"

"He'd be 21 soon." Luke bit his lip. So young. Too young.

"Do you think that my not-daughter was probably around the same age?"

"No way of knowing that, but sure. I'd guess around his age, anyway."

"OK, math isn't my strong suit, but…" She stared at him, doing calculations. "That means I would have had to have her at 16."

Since Luke didn't have any idea how old she was now, he didn't comment, but he watched her face as something else stole her focus.

"Which means…I probably would have gotten pregnant at 15," she said quietly.

"Possibly," he commented. "I mean, _if_ this girl existed, and _if_ you were her mother."

She took in a huge, shaky breath of air and looked directly at him. "When I _was_ 15, I had a pregnancy scare."

He nodded, trying to ignore the little shiver of the occult that wafted between them at her words.

"No one knows that, not even my parents. I kept those three weeks of sheer panic to myself. I didn't even tell Chris."

"It was Chris, even that long ago, huh?" He was already tired of Chris.

"Yeah." She sighed again and looked apologetic. "We were typical teenagers. Thought we knew everything, and considered ourselves invincible, too. Sometimes we were sensible and cautious, and other times we just couldn't be bothered about being careful. But let me tell you, those three weeks changed me. I suddenly saw how everything I'd worked so hard for could collapse. From then on, I was a stickler for birth control. I studied harder than ever. The party girl left the building."

"So what happened? You really weren't pregnant?"

"I don't think I was?" He could tell she was going back in time, reliving those weeks of uncertainty again. "It's possible I was, I suppose. I told myself then it was just my period being late, but I guess it could have been a miscarriage, and I didn't know enough to even suspect that." She looked at him honestly. "All I know is I made damn sure it never happened again."

She was quiet, reflecting, and after a moment, Luke reached over and lightly touched her hand, a gesture of understanding.

"How weird is it though, that this Rory person would have been the same age as that baby would have been?" she murmured. " _If_ there'd been a baby."

"It is weird." Luke didn't know what else to say. "What happened after the Rory part?" he asked, trying to get her to move on.

"Well, I guess I got more upset, and went into my dad's study, where supposedly there should have been a huge painting of her behind his desk." She looked at him grimly. "There wasn't," she informed him, unnecessarily.

"Ah."

"By then, both of my parents were really concerned about me. They thought I was having a nervous breakdown or something. Dad gave me a shot of Scotch, just like you'd see somebody in a movie do. It's a wonder neither of them slapped me across my face."

"Or whacked you over the head with a vase," Luke suggested dryly.

" _Ooh_ , whacking! _Dirty_!" Lorelai trilled, shooting him a suggestive smile.

"Wh-what?" he sputtered.

But she was already continuing. "Somewhere in the middle of their discussion about what was wrong with me, I offered that I'd been watching a Lifetime movie about a teenaged mother as some sort of excuse, then went to get ready for work. The only other out-of-the-ordinary thing was that I tried to take the gardener's Jeep instead of my car. And before you ask…" She put up her hand. "I have no idea why. I've never harbored a secret desire to drive a Jeep."

"I'm still flummoxed by the statement that you have a gardener." Luke shook his head at her. "I'm pretty sure we live in completely different tax brackets."

Lorelai snorted. " _I_ don't have a gardener. My parents do. They also have a cook and a revolving door of maids. My mother's hard on the help."

"Did you just hear yourself? _The help_."

"Let's not get caught up in arguing socioeconomic disparities. We'll never get to the end of what we need to talk about if we do."

Luke nodded. "Point taken."

"Good man." Lorelai winked at him, then pulled her legs over to one side, carefully smoothing down her skirt as she did so. "After that I know I arrived at work, walked into a meeting late, said some really stupid things, and made a whole design team mad at me. Then I dropped my mug of coffee, which destroyed some storyboards, and got even _more_ people mad at me. Then I ran out, did who-knows-what, and returned to my parents' house that evening. Dad found me sitting out back in the rose garden, looking tearful." She sighed and looked at Luke glumly. "I said something to him about not fitting in anywhere. He still thinks the whole episode was brought on because I was working too hard."

"Wow. That's quite a day."

"Yeah." She reached for her coffee and took a gulp. "OK, your turn to fill me in."

Luke felt like a teacher had unexpectedly called on him in class, and he experienced a moment of schoolboy panic. "Uh…well…" He scrambled for how to begin. "Like I said, it was in the afternoon, maybe around 3 o'clock, and I was out taking a walk around the square."

"The square?"

"Yeah, you know. Typical small town. We've got an open square in the center of it. There's a gazebo, even. All of the businesses sort of surround it, including mine. I wanted to get out of the diner for a while, to clear my head."

"Stars Hollow sounds picturesque."

"Not really." He shrugged. "Anyway, I heard someone call my name, and it was…Well, it was you."

She was staring at him, riveted. "And I knew you?"

"Yeah, definitely, but I didn't recognize you, so that was the first thing I asked: do I know you? And you said, 'I don't know, do you?'" Luke did a pretty good imitation of her breathless, flirty delivery.

Lorelai chuckled. "That does sound like me," she admitted.

"I said no, because I didn't, and that's when it looked like you were going to cry."

Lorelai grimaced.

"I asked if there was anything I could do to help, because obviously you were very upset, and that's when you did start to cry."

"Ugh. Sorry. Believe me, that's not something I make a habit of in real life."

"I sort of led you to a bench, back behind Gypsy's, and I did that thing guys do, patting at their pockets like they're looking for a tissue or a handkerchief or whatever, but I knew I didn't have one. And you…" He took a deep breath. "This is the first really weird thing."

"The first, huh? OK, let's hear it."

"You already knew I didn't have a handkerchief. You said that was OK and you agreed, giving your hanky to someone else to blow their nose on is disgusting."

Lorelai shook her head slightly. "Why is that weird?"

"Because that's exactly what I've said about the practice, many, many times. And the way you said it – the way you repeated it – it made it seem like you'd heard me say it before. You even sort of smiled when you said it."

"I don't think saying that is too freaky. Lots of people feel that way," she stated with a shrug.

"It was more the _way_ you said it," Luke insisted. "It was like you were quoting me."

"Whatever. Crying. No hanky. Go on."

Luke felt irritated at the way she dismissed that part of their conversation. "Next is the thing I can't rationalize, no matter how hard I've tried. You said, 'So you married Rachel, huh?' as if you knew us and knew our whole backstory or something. Before I could respond to that, you said, 'Does she still move the milk? Does that still drive you crazy?'"

" _What?"_ she asked, laughing.

Luke wasn't laughing a bit. "I'd been living on my own for quite a while when Rachel first came back and moved in with me. Everything was arranged the way I wanted it, you know? But she started moving things, not maliciously, but because she didn't even think it mattered, and the one thing that drove me up the wall the most was that every time I reached into the refrigerator for the milk, it wasn't where it should be. It did drive me crazy, but I never told Rachel; I never mentioned it to anyone. I bit my tongue and kept it to myself. But somehow…you knew about it. You _knew_. How could you know?"

Lorelai was no longer amused. She looked spooked. "I don't know. I _don't_ know you, or Rachel, or Stars Hollow, or _any_ of this! I don't know about the milk being moved. _Of course_ I don't know!" she insisted, beginning to sound angry.

Luke pointed at her. "See, that was my reaction that day. I was so unnerved that I snapped at you. I demanded to know how you knew that. You said you didn't, that you should go. You looked so sad that I felt bad for snapping at you. I asked if you lived in Stars Hollow, and you said…" He swallowed hard, because for some reason, whenever he thought about the anguish on her face as she replied to that question, it felt like a blow to his heart. "You said you thought you did but you guessed you didn't."

"That makes no sense," Lorelai murmured.

"If you think that makes no sense, you'd better buckle up for the next part," Luke warned her. "When I asked you to explain, you started talking about sci-fi TV shows and alternate realities."

"No! Stop it!" Distressed, Lorelai lunged forward on her hands and knees towards him. "Come on! You're making this up! You expect me to believe this? Sounds to me like you're the one who's crazy! How do I know that any of this really happened?"

"If it didn't happen, then how did I know your name? How did I know where to find you? How did I know who Rory was?" he countered. "How did I know when your 'lost day' was?"

She stared at him for a few seconds, breathing heavily. "I don't know," she finally said dully, and reluctantly sat back down. "This is just so insane," she murmured to herself.

"No argument from me," Luke said sharply. "But let's be clear that you're the one who came to my town and disturbed my life and made me doubt my sanity. You're the one who started this."

Briefly, she covered her face with her hands. "Oh, my God. Alternate realities. Go on."

"You mentioned Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits. And again, it was like you knew mentioning those specific shows would mean something to me."

"Did they?"

"Yes," Luke sighed. "Next, you started telling me about this other reality. You – she – this other person…" He suddenly stumbled over how to identify the Lorelai he spoke to that day. It was going to be awkward, repeating her own, more intimate words to this relative stranger sitting across from him on the picnic blanket.

"The Lorelai I was that day," she suggested, trying to help him out.

"Right. She said that in this other Stars Hollow, that this Lorelai…well, she loved Luke –"

Lorelai made a noise like she was being strangled.

He looked over at her, meeting her embarrassed, horrified gaze. "That was the first I'd heard your name, so I commented on that, that it was a pretty name." He swallowed hard again, remembering with perfect clarity the pure electricity that had jumped between them when she'd tucked her hand around his. He decided to keep that insight to himself. "She said that she loved her daughter Rory, and ran the Dragonfly Inn with Sookie St. James, and had a good life, but none of that was true here."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Lorelai was agitated again. "Back up! That's too much information. The what now? With who?"

"Um, the Dragonfly Inn, with Sookie St. James."

"Is that true?" She shook her head, hearing herself. "I mean, is that a real place? Is that a real person?"

"Well…" Luke frowned. "I think the Dragonfly _used_ to be a place, but it's been closed for most of my life, if not longer. I have sort of this vague idea about where it's located. Sookie, however, is most definitely real."

"Did you talk to her?" Lorelai asked eagerly.

"Did I go up to her and ask her if she knew someone named Lorelai from an alternate reality?" Luke asked disparagingly.

"Right, right," she grumbled, again briefly putting her head in her hands. "We don't want other people to know about the craziness, got it." She glanced up at him. "But she does exist. You know her?"

"I know her. Stars Hollow is small, everybody pretty much knows everyone. Sookie's a really good cook. A chef, actually. She used to work at the Independence Inn until fairly recently. She tried to open her own bakery in town, but she couldn't make a go of it. She's in the process of selling it."

"Aww, too bad." Lorelai spared some sympathy for this unknown person, then looked intrigued. "Did you say she worked at an inn?"

"Yeah, the Independence. It's a big place, pretty well-known in the area. Unfortunately when the owner died, it was bought up by a big chain operation, and a lot of what made it special disappeared. That's when Sookie quit and tried going out on her own."

"So it wouldn't be completely out of left field for me to be running an inn with her?"

Luke looked at her, half in amusement, half in bewilderment. "Sure, why not? Run an inn that doesn't exist with a person you don't know, in a town where you don't live."

"Well, when you put it that way, Mr. Spoilsport." She pouted prettily at him. "What happened next?"

"I pointed out that you were probably crazy."

His dry assessment made her laugh. "Way to state the obvious."

He smiled but cast his eyes downward, troubled by how similar her reaction was to the other Lorelai's.

"Anything else?"

"You – she – got up, said it was time to go before I called someone to lock you up. And then you…you asked about Jess."

"Your nephew," Lorelai said solemnly.

"Yeah." He stared down at his hands. "You could tell, right away, that there was something wrong, and you – she – that Lorelai – gave me a hug."

"I am sorry."

"Look, I should just tell you." He forced himself to meet her sympathetic gaze. "Jess died of an overdose. They weren't able to say whether it was on purpose or not, and because of that, no one knows what to say, so no one says anything. But you were instantly supportive. You didn't care about how or why, you were just ready to provide a shoulder to cry on."

"That's the way it should be." She leaned over and patted his knee. "The circumstances shouldn't matter. You support your friends when they're going through a rough patch."

Out of curiosity, he clasped his hand around the one of hers that was still resting on his knee. He discovered that the electricity between them was missing, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved about that or not.

Luke sat back, oddly disappointed. "You said that he'd loved Rory, and that you were pretty sure that Rory loved him." He smiled suddenly. "And then you said the best thing. You said that you'd secretly admired Jess' smart-assedness."

She chuckled but looked confused. "Why was that good?"

"Because that sums Jess up perfectly. He _was_ a smart-ass. It got him in constant trouble, but the kid was so fiendishly clever, so damn witty. You couldn't help but laugh, even as you wanted to strangle him."

"He does sound like my type of person," Lorelai said with a grin.

Luke smiled back at her. "It was good to hear a comment like that. It helped me remember the way he was before things got bad. I appreciated hearing it."

Again, she seemed to be fixated on his smile. "I'm glad it brought back some happy memories, then." She appeared to think back over what had been said. "Did we talk about anything else?"

Luke tried to shore himself up against the embarrassment he knew was coming. "You – she –"

"The other Lorelai," she said in resignation.

"Yeah. She, um…she kissed me."

With a groan, Lorelai bent over, hiding her face. "Oh, God! Luke, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it wasn't…It wasn't bad," he insisted. "It was quick, but sweet. Tender. It wasn't…it wasn't embarrassing, or a big display, or anything. It was…" She looked up and he studied her face, trying to find the right description. "It was like one final goodbye; the way movies show people parting at train stations during times of war." He shook his head at what he'd just said. "Sorry, I'm no good at this stuff. It was special, and…and bittersweet, maybe? It made me feel bad that I couldn't help you, because it was so obvious your heart was breaking."

She took in a sharp breath. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that description at all," she said astutely. "I'm sort of sorry I don't remember it." She smiled regretfully.

"Then you gave me a business card and told me to come look you up if I wanted to hear more about the other reality." He wet his lips, feeling uncomfortable again. "But I gave it back to you, because I said that wasn't who I was, and you agreed that I wasn't. You told me goodbye after that and walked away," he said briskly, wanting to put an end to all of it.

"Wait – you mean, that's it?"

"That's it. I watched you walk away, and I felt…"

"What?"

Luke decided he might as well be honest. "Sad. I felt sad that I didn't know you. I felt sad that I'd missed out on those experiences with you."

"Experiences that happened…in some other reality?"

"I know it doesn't make sense," he grumbled.

She sighed heavily. "If you gave me back the business card, how did you find me?"

"I said I gave it back to you, I didn't say I didn't look at it. The important information stuck."

"Stalker," she taunted him, with a fleeting smile. "Seriously, though, do you have any theories about what happened that day? Obviously the whole thing's been on your mind. What do you think was behind it?"

"You're absolutely certain you weren't sick?"

"No, although I did use that excuse the next day, when I heard the tales. I said I was running a fever. I even pretended to be on antibiotics for a while." She looked at him frankly. "I read some stuff about extreme sleepwalking. Do you think it was something like that, maybe?"

"It's possible, I guess. But –"

"But how did I know to say the stuff I did?" she pointed out, beating him to the punch. "That's when we get right back to the spooky, sci-fi stuff." She hummed the first familiar notes of the theme song.

"Twilight Zone," he muttered. "Outer Limits."

"Crazy Town," she agreed, trying to smile. "Can I ask you one more thing? It's really a weird question," she warned him.

He lifted one eyebrow. "You mean, as opposed to all of the normal, everyday things we've been discussing up until now?"

That made her giggle. "Yes, exactly!"

"Be my guest."

She grew quiet and thoughtful. "The person who came to see you that day, the other Lorelai. Was it – was it me?"

"No," Luke said authoritatively, not even having to think about it. "Thank God," he muttered a half-second later, under his breath.

Lorelai's head sprang up at his immediate response. "Why no?"

"Because you – that day – you weren't –" He forced himself to stop and think dispassionately about what he wanted to convey. "The woman I interacted with that day was not the person you are. Look, words aren't what I do best, but I'll try to find some. There was something different about her, something that had been altered…maybe because she'd lived a different life. Mostly, I guess it showed in her eyes."

"Her eyes?" Lorelai frowned.

"There was just something extra in her eyes. Some sort of different…spark? Again, I can't find the words to somehow have this make sense. There was just a different feeling about her. Look, you're nice and pretty and everything, but you're not her."

"I'm not her?" Lorelai looked more confused than ever.

"That's not…" The words he'd just uttered came back to haunt him. "Of course, it was you. I'm not saying…" He groaned and rubbed at his head. "This is damned confusing," he muttered.

"Tell me about it."

"Of course, I realize it _was_ you, because otherwise we'd have to accept alternate lives and parallel universes and all sorts of things that aren't real, and I don't think either of us are ready to wear tinfoil hats and sit underneath pyramids, or anything like that. I don't understand what happened to you that day. I don't have an explanation about how you knew to say the things you said. But the Lorelai I've been talking to today is not the same Lorelai who visited me in Stars Hollow." He raised his hands up in surrender. "Please say that answers your question."

"Sorry, it doesn't begin to answer all of my questions…but I guess I can live with it." She smiled faintly at him. "I do, however, have one more thing to ask."

"Go ahead," he said, resigned.

"Why 'thank God?'"

"What?"

"After you so emphatically said I wasn't her, you said 'thank God.' Why?"

He felt his cheeks heating up. He looked down and shook his head, stubbornly refusing to answer.

"I have really good ears," she commented. "I know that's what you said. What was going to happen if I was that Lorelai? If I was the one who kissed you and said she loved you and knew Jess? Were you going to run off with _her_?"

"No," he insisted, his head jerking up. He met her eyes, then faltered, as those dark-blue irises forced him to further examine his feelings. In true discomfort he recalled the poignancy of the brief kiss, the electricity he'd felt between them. He acknowledged how thoroughly she'd infiltrated his psyche since their first encounter. And immediately, he decided to ignore it all. "No," he said again, even more firmly. "I don't cheat on my wife. I don't chase after other women. I gave the business card back. That's not the way I live my life. I came here today only because I needed answers."

She watched him for a while before finally giving her shoulders a shrug. "OK," she said mildly. "We'll leave it at that."

"Thank God," he mumbled again, this time deliberately. As he expected, she smiled.

"What time is it?" she asked, motioning at the watch on his wrist.

"Almost 3." He got to his feet. "I should be going. I need to pick up supplies and get home in time for the dinner rush."

Lorelai got up too, gathering up her lunch debris. "Dinner rush!" she repeated and giggled. "That sounds so exciting!"

"It's not," he disputed, but he couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm for his mundane life.

They were both quiet and introspective on the drive back, thinking about everything from the afternoon they'd just shared.

After Lorelai parked her car, they got out and glanced awkwardly at each other.

"Well, if you're ever in Hartford again, come look me up!" Lorelai said, with a forced gaiety.

"The same to you, if you visit Stars Hollow," Luke offered.

Lorelai looked at him with a sad smile. "That's probably not going to happen, though, is it?"

"Probably not," Luke agreed soberly.

She took a determined breath. "Look, I realize that I really don't know you or Rachel, but I _do_ know that life is short. Too short to go through it unhappy."

Luke thought about his nephew, dead before 21, and nodded in agreement.

"You owe it to yourself to try and change that, Luke. If you're unhappy, there's a good chance Rachel is, too. You should talk to her. See if you can get yourselves to a happier place. If not together, then separately." Her face took on a certain grimness. "I know that's not fun, but sometimes it's what you've got to do."

Normally he'd blow up if anyone attempted to tell him what to do with his life, but he found that he was willing to listen to her. Maybe because he knew she'd been through something similar.

"I'll give that some thought," he promised.

"There's one more thing I think you should know." She looked bemused. "I'd sort of forgotten this, until talking with you today. When I was a girl, my father traveled for business all the time, and my mom and I went with him whenever we could. He'd go to his meetings, and Mom would go shopping, and I'd –" She laughed, self-consciously, at whatever she was going to say next. "I stayed in the hotel and befriended the staff. The maids, the concierge, the person manning the front desk – whoever was willing to talk to me. The whole behind-the-scenes thing fascinated me. For a long, long time, I imagined that one day I was going to be the one running a hotel. Or…or an inn."

"No kidding?" Luke looked at her in fascination.

"Yeah. I even took some classes in college, thinking I'd get into the hospitality field, but Mom and Dad threw a fit when they found out. That was not the career they'd imagined for me. We had real fights about it for a while. Finally, for the sake of family harmony, I gave it up. I got the marketing degree they thought I should. I got the job they wanted me to." She shook her head. "Funny how I buried my first aspirations, isn't it? For so many years I've been trying to be the perfect daughter, ever since I realized I could have blown it all by getting pregnant at 15. Strange how I forgot that I had dreams of my own."

"You don't like what you do now?"

"I'm good at it," she replied immediately, then looked at him, surprised. "That's not what you asked, is it?"

"No."

"Do I like it?" she mused. She looked back at him with another smile. "I think I may have to ponder that question. Hey, do you think the reason I had so much fun planning my wedding was because it reminded me of arranging hotel events?"

"Could be," Luke said kindly.

"Lots to think about." Her pretty face shone at him. "Thanks for coming to find me today, Luke. It was very brave of you."

"Was it?" he asked doubtfully.

"Of course! Coming to track down a possible crazy woman? Brave beyond measure. I'm so glad you did." She held out her hand to him, but before he could take it, she retracted it. "A handshake seems pretty lame, after everything we've been through. Is a hug OK?"

"Yes," he said gently. He opened his arms and she stepped into his embrace.

She was soft and warm, and smelled of coffee and some sort of perfume with a spicy undertone. Holding her was pleasurable, but the thrill he'd experienced previously was missing, for which he was glad.

Probably, he was glad. Mostly, anyway. No thrill made his life easier, definitely.

Still, he had a hard time letting her go. He fought the urge to kiss her forehead, the way he had that day in Stars Hollow.

"Take care, Lorelai," he said gruffly.

"You too, Luke. Thanks again for tracking me down." She held onto his arms for another moment or two, even as she was stepping backwards. Her tenacious smile remained in place.

He raised his hand, symbolically saying goodbye.

The steadfast smile still on her lips, Lorelai nodded and turned towards her building.

Luke started to walk to where he'd parked his truck. He paused on the sidewalk and looked back, to satisfy his need to see her one last time, but she'd already disappeared into the lobby.

His attempt to wade into another reality had been thwarted. His timeline remained annoyingly intact. Whatever half-baked hopes he'd brought with him today, that maybe she'd have the magic solution to fix his discontent, had been squashed.

With no other option, he turned his back on a life that maybe could have been and returned instead to the one where he belonged.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Thanks to those of you willing to suspend belief and come along for the ride on this one! I think the main thing to remember is that this Luke and Lorelai don't have 8+ years of fond acquaintance to fall back on. They're meeting for the first time, and it's going to take a little while to nudge them to where they need to be.

Usually I have a favorite line or exchange in every chapter, but it's rare when anyone else mentions it. I've decided that rather than wait for someone else to love the same line, I'd just tell you what it is! Last chapter my favorite lines are from Lorelai: _"No wonder I came to find you that day. You're the guy of my dreams."_ Just hold that thought, Lorelai!

Thanks again to **Eledgy** for beta duty!


	3. Welcome to Stars Hollow

It was raining. Again. Sometimes Luke felt as if the last time he saw the sun was on the day of the picnic in the park with Lorelai.

He walked aimlessly around the diner, stopping at the big front windows for a bit to watch the rain come down. It was a nothing time of day. Too early for lunch, too late for breakfast. Two people sat at a table, nursing some coffee. Caesar was out, running some errands while things were so slow. He wasn't sure where Rachel was.

Of course, he wasn't sure where he was, either, besides still stuck in this insufficient life.

The telephone behind the counter began to ring, saving him from any further introspection. He sprinted back to grab it, grateful for the interruption.

"Luke's," he said into the receiver, his normal no-frills greeting.

There was no reply except silence, but it was the type of dead silence that meant there was indeed someone listening on the other end.

"Look, either say something or I'm hanging up," he grumbled. "I don't have time for nonsense like this." That was a lie. Today he had nothing _but_ time.

Nonetheless, his bluff brought forth a response. "This _is_ Luke," a feminine voice said decisively. After a slight pause she added, no longer so sure, "Isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's me. Hi," he said, recognizing her voice immediately.

"Is it OK that I'm calling? I wasn't sure."

"Of course it's OK," he said, but he turned instinctively towards the wall, aiming for greater privacy. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Listen, I wanted to let you know that I'm planning a visit to see Stars Hollow."

His heart gave a jump. "You are?"

"Yeah, if you don't think that's a problem. That's why I wanted to call, to give you a head's up. I didn't want to just show up unexpectedly."

"No, of course it's not a problem," he insisted, while mentally counting up all of the ways it could indeed be a problem. "When?"

"Saturday, unless that's a bad day."

"Not that I know of. There's probably some sort of freaky town festival going on in the square, but that should only add to the ambiance of the place," he said sarcastically.

Lorelai giggled. "Sounds delightful."

"That's what you say now. Wait until you almost get trampled by a horde of mini-ballerinas or have to eat fried butter."

"I'm sure fried butter is delicious," she disputed.

He turned his head, scanning the dining room for any new arrivals. "What made you decide to come here?"

There was a moment of quiet from her. "I can't get it out of my head, Luke."

He understood immediately what she meant.

"Every morning, it's still the first thing I think about when I wake up. In meetings, I'm only half paying attention, because I'm stuck wondering about this other life. It's not even because I'm worried I'm going insane or suffering from a brain tumor anymore. I just can't shake the feeling that there's supposed to be…something else. Something different. You know?"

"I know," he said softly.

She sighed gustily. "So I thought that if I came there and saw the place, maybe that will shake loose the obsession I've built up. Force me to face my doubts directly, maybe give me a way to answer the questions I still have. Maybe if I can confirm that it's all real and populated with real people, that will help separate the truth from what I keep imagining."

"Makes some sense," he agreed.

"So…I guess I'll see you Saturday. Or, I don't have to see _you_ , specifically. I mean, I can stay away from your diner, and anyplace else that you'd rather –"

"No, don't be ridiculous. Come to the diner if you want to." Again, he surveyed the room. "I'll be glad to see you," he added, quietly.

"Well, you did tell me to come look you up if I was ever in Stars Hollow," she reminded him, sounding happier.

"I did," he said, smiling. "Hey, thanks for calling."

"Bye, Luke. See you soon. And, oh, by the way – it will be _me_ this time."

"Got it," he chuckled. "Bye."

As he hung up the phone he looked over his shoulder yet again, confirming that no one had been around to hear his side of the conversation.

He couldn't be sure, but outside it appeared as if the rain was easing up.

* * *

The diner was a busy place on Saturday morning and Luke was hustling to take care of customer needs, but his eyes strayed to the door every other minute. He kicked himself for not asking her what time she planned on arriving, just so he could be prepared.

Finally, the bells over the door seemed to chime a little differently and when he looked over, there she was, in jeans and a khaki jacket, her hair falling in a perfect waterfall over her shoulders.

Their eyes met. Lorelai's face lit up. One of her big, bright smiles beamed his way, and he welcomed her with a smile of his own.

Before anything else could happen, Rachel was there, blocking Lorelai's path.

"It's you," Rachel said, sounding both panicked and slightly confrontational.

Lorelai shot him a worried glance before turning to Rachel, her smile fading somewhat. "It is," she agreed good-naturedly.

"So you came back."

"I – I guess I did." Lorelai was still smiling gamely, but she began to bob her head nervously.

Rachel took a step closer to her. "What, you've got even more questions? You didn't find everything you were looking for last time?" Suddenly, she turned to look at Luke, but he ducked his head quickly and pretended he wasn't watching in fear as his wife and his paramour from another life sized each other up.

Lorelai's smile diminished and she put up her hands, trying to deflect Rachel's surliness. "Look, I'm just here to do the diner thing."

"The diner thing," Rachel said contemptuously, but then it appeared as if she suddenly realized how she was presenting herself. She took a breath and waved her arms around the dining room. "Sure. Sit wherever you want," she offered, not very graciously.

Lorelai immediately slid into a seat at the first available table.

Rachel handed her a menu. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked, pulling the order pad from her apron pocket.

"Coffee."

"Coffee. Really? You didn't care for it the last time you were here."

"Coffee," Lorelai said firmly. "It's always coffee."

"Suit yourself. You want the large size again?"

"Absolutely. As big as it comes. A vat, if possible."

Rachel shook her head and made a note on the order slip before marching over to the coffee machine behind the counter. She filled up a large cup and brought it back to Lorelai's table. She stood there, watching, until Lorelai gleaned that she was waiting for her to take a sip.

She took a quick swallow and instantly turned awestruck. "Oh my God," she moaned. "This is fantastic. Seriously, some of the best I've ever had." Lorelai bent her head over the cup, the better to inhale the enticing aroma.

"So today it's good, huh? Wonder why that is? Maybe because _my husband_ made it today?" Rachel glared over at Luke, almost triumphantly.

Luke didn't duck his head this time. Instead he shot Rachel his best _what the hell is wrong with you_ look, and she swiftly turned away.

"I'll be back to take your order a little later," Rachel said, sounding subdued. She quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

Lorelai turned to see Luke, her eyes wide open in horror. He shook his head and put up his hands in apology, not knowing how to interpret Rachel's unexplained hostility.

Before he could make any kind of amends, the diner's door opened again, this time to admit a woman the physical opposite of Lorelai. Probably the only thing the short, curvy, auburn-haired woman had in common with Lorelai was her effervescent personality.

"Oh my _God_ – it's you!" the newcomer cried joyfully, spotting Lorelai. "It's my fairy godmother!"

"Um…hi?" Lorelai said unsurely.

"I've been hoping and hoping I'd run into you again!" Sookie bent down to throw her arms around Lorelai's shoulders and squeezed tightly, while her rosy cheek pressed against Lorelai's hair. "You were definitely my good luck charm."

"That's…awesome?" Lorelai still looked slightly alarmed, but she began to chuckle.

Sookie sat down at the table, across from Lorelai, without being asked. "The next day – _the very next day_ – I got a decent offer on the building. I can't tell you what a relief that was. Then I went back to the Independence, all ready to be meek and groveling, but you know what? They took me back – even gave me a raise! Turns out the wimp they hired to replace me couldn't handle the heat! And you know what they say! If you can't handle the heat…" She stopped and looked significantly at Lorelai.

"Stay out of the kitchen?" Lorelai supplied.

"Exactly!" Sookie laughed and leaned across the table to give her a high-five.

Lorelai studied her uninvited tablemate. "You're Sookie," she guessed, with wonder in her voice.

"Oh yeah, I guess we didn't actually introduce ourselves that day, did we?" Sookie thrust her hand over the table again, this time for a handshake. "Sookie St. James."

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"Lorelai? _Ooh!_ What a _perfect_ name for a fairy godmother!"

"Why do you keep calling me a fairy godmother?" Lorelai asked, still chuckling. She'd lost all of her defensive mannerisms, Sookie having completely disarmed her.

"Well – because you were. You appeared from out of nowhere, let me blubber all over your shoulder about my rotten luck, and then said the sweetest things to me. It felt like you sincerely cared about me and my troubles, and you were _so_ encouraging. It meant so much to me, when you told me that maybe my dreams were still out there, if I could just find the right partner."

Lorelai gave a small, but audible gasp of shock. "Partner," she repeated, astonished.

"Yeah, wasn't that a nice thing to say?" Sookie beamed at her. "And then, just like that, my life completely turned around! It had to be because you cast some sort of spell as you left the building, don't you think?"

"Trust me, if I had powers like that, I'd use them for myself! George Clooney would suddenly appear before me," Lorelai informed her with a grin. "I'm glad to hear things are going better for you, though."

Rachel hadn't come back out from the kitchen, so Luke decided he'd throw himself into the breach and take their orders. Having Sookie there would definitely help to diffuse the situation.

"You guys know what you want?" he asked as indifferently as possible, standing closer to Sookie's side of the table.

" _Luke!"_ Sookie greeted him enthusiastically. "I know it's almost past breakfast time – well, I guess it's more like lunchtime now isn't it? – but I'm craving your pancakes. Would you make me a stack?"

"Sure," he said with a shrug. There was still some leftover batter in the kitchen.

"Do you have any pecans? Because if you'd just toast those in a pan for a minute or two, and then make a really simple brown butter sauce –"

Luke snatched up a bottle of commercial syrup from a nearby table and plunked it down in front of Sookie, cutting off her recipe recitation. "Take it or leave it," he advised her.

"I'll take it," she grumbled, sighing. "You don't know what you're missing, though. It's so easy to do and would really elevate the dish." She then looked at Lorelai but inclined her head towards Luke. "This man makes _the best_ pancakes!"

"Does he now? Here I heard his coffee was the best thing." She smiled devilishly at him.

Luke tried to keep his face impassive. "Are you ready to order?" he asked, even though he wasn't sure if she'd even had time to glance at the menu.

"I am!" She leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table in front of her. "I'll have a burger with cheese, a plate of chili fries, and a piece of whatever kind of pie is underneath that plastic dome on the counter." She gave a little wink at the end of her order.

He looked down at the pad to try and hide his smile. He realized immediately that her order was the exact things she'd asked about after learning he owned a diner. "The pie's boysenberry today," he told her. "Is that OK?"

"I don't even know what that is, but sure. That's fine. I want the ultimate diner experience while I'm here."

"Do you want the pie with your meal?"

"Hmm. No, give me about a ten-minute head start on the burger and fries."

"Do you want the pie warmed up?" He didn't know why he continued to stand there, drawing out the ordering procedure. Even Sookie was looking at him as if she knew he was dawdling.

"Absolutely," Lorelai agreed. "What is boysenberry if it's not warmed up?"

Still one more question spilled out of him. "À la mode?"

"Yes, definitely. Feel free to put ice cream on anything I ever order here."

"Got it." Luke nodded and finally forced himself to walk away from their table.

"So…Sookie," he heard Lorelai say as he slowly walked towards the kitchen. "Is that really your name?"

"No, it's Susannah, actually," Sookie said, a fact which Luke hadn't known. "My mom says she looked at me the day after I was born and knew Susannah was never going to work for me, but it was too late by then. I've been Sookie ever since!"

"It fits you," Lorelai declared.

By the time Luke served Lorelai her pie à la mode, it was obvious the girls had bonded.

 _The girls_ , Luke derided himself, shaking his head. As if he'd already destined them to be best buds or something.

But as lunch gave way to the afternoon, it was beginning to look as if a real friendship was taking root. On his many trips to their table, mainly to refill Lorelai's bottomless cup of coffee, he heard her grilling Sookie about the inn where she worked, her culinary background, and urging her to spill any tales of cooking gone wrong from her professional days in the kitchen.

Also, from what he'd overheard, he realized that Lorelai was carefully keeping most details about herself to a bare minimum.

Rachel continued to stay as far away from Sookie and Lorelai as she could. It filled him with dread, to contemplate what might yet erupt from whatever had tingled Rachel's Spidey sense regarding Lorelai. During a stint at the grill he debated what to say in his defense, if it got to that. Finally he decided there was no reason to worry unless Rachel brought it up later. Leaving their issues alone had worked for him so far, so why change it up now?

Sookie squealed without warning, making Luke jump as he returned from the kitchen.

"I know! You've got so many questions about the town, why don't I take you on a tour?" Sookie suggested.

"Do you have time for that? I don't want to take up your whole day," Lorelai demurred.

"Sure, oodles of time! I don't need to be at the Independence until later today."

"Then…sure. That sounds great."

"Let's go, my godmother pal!" Sookie picked up her bill and hurried over to the cash register.

Lorelai got up from the table too, but took one extra minute to guzzle down the last of her coffee. Before she could join Sookie at the cash register, Babette Dell, one of the diner regulars, opened the door.

"Hey, Toots!" Babette called out to Lorelai, in her usual strident voice. "You still looking for a house here in town?"

"What?" Lorelai said, blindsided once again. The coffee cup rattled on the table as she clumsily put it down.

"I'm still looking for you," Babette said earnestly. "I've got your business card right here." She patted at her purse. "I promise, I'll let you know the second anything decent comes on the market."

Sookie grabbed the change from Luke's outstretched hand and raced back to Lorelai. "What? Seriously? Are you moving here?" she asked in excitement.

"Am I?" Lorelai questioned.

"Sure, she's looking for a house," Babette assured Sookie. "She said Stars Hollow is real a nice little place."

"Oh my God – that's fantastic!" Sookie enveloped Lorelai in a hug. "I'd love it if you moved here!"

"I'm…I'm not moving here," Lorelai said, trying to extricate herself from Sookie's enthusiastic embrace. "I'm not. I'm really not. I am not." She caught Luke's eye, bewildered. "Am I?"

All he could do was shake his head at her.

Babette chuckled. "We'll do our best to change your mind, Toots."

"We will!" Sookie agreed. She turned to Babette. "In fact, I'm taking her on a tour of the town right now. I'll show her all of the advantages Stars Hollow has to offer."

"You do that, Sookie. Best to keep her away from Taylor Doose, though." Babette moved on to an empty table. "Good to see you again, Lorelai."

"You too," Lorelai said faintly.

"I'm going to the restroom," Sookie said. She headed towards the back of the dining room. "I'll be back in just a minute!"

Lorelai picked up her purse and the bill and made her way to where Luke was waiting behind the cash register. Silently, she handed over her check to him.

"What'd you do?" he grumbled, keeping his voice low. "Talk to everybody in the whole damn town that day?"

"I – I don't know." Lorelai sounded shell-shocked. "Although, to be honest…talking _is_ sort of my thing."

Luke snorted a laugh. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

She smiled weakly. "Here I thought I could slip in here and nobody'd notice."

"How'd that work out for you?"

"Not too good, Dr. Phil," she murmured. She offered some bills to him.

"Nope. First time's on the house." He pushed her money back at her.

"You're kidding. How do you make a profit?"

"I manage."

"But…this _isn't_ my first time," she pointed out. "We know that now."

"It's _your_ first time," Luke insisted, still keeping his voice down. "Besides, I doubt that Rachel gave you anything for free the first day. That policy drives her up the wall."

"As much as moving the milk?"

Luke's eyes shot to hers.

"Sorry," she said immediately. "I shouldn't have said that. And I'm sorry if I've caused any trouble for you."

"It will be OK," he said, with more confidence than he felt.

"Ready for the grand tour?" Sookie interrupted, hurrying to Lorelai's side.

"Ready," Lorelai confirmed. She looked at Luke. "Thanks."

He nodded back at her, hating to see her go. "You two have fun."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her," Sookie told him, as if she sensed he needed reassurance.

"Bye, Luke," Lorelai said, with one of her trademarked smiles. "See you later."

"Later," he said, as if he believed it.

* * *

To Luke's mix of surprise, worry, concern and gladness, Lorelai did appear in the diner again, a few hours later.

"I need coffee, stat!" she announced, taking a seat at the counter. Already she was acting like a regular.

"Rough tour of the town?" he asked, pouring her a cup.

"I can't even begin to tell you where all I've been." She took a sip of coffee and made a happy humming noise before she continued. "This town is equal parts charming and bizarre."

"That sounds about right."

Lorelai took another sip. "There was this one totally weird, skinny guy who showed up at every single place Sookie took me. And even weirder, he claimed he was working at each of them!"

"Kirk," Luke sighed.

"You know him?"

"Of course I know him."

"My condolences. And then, there was this other pompous, egotistical, annoying man –"

"Taylor Doose," Luke said, not needing more description.

"What an ass."

"Couldn't agree more." Luke pointed towards the window separating the diner from the ice cream parlor next door.

Frowning, Lorelai turned to see. "No!" she hissed out, horrified. She turned back to Luke. "You have to deal with him on a daily basis? How can you stand it?"

"I drink heavily."

She chuckled. "I don't blame you." She sipped again, then took a cautious look around the room. "Is, uh, everything all right?" she asked quietly.

"Seems to be, so far." Luke acted unconcerned.

"Again, I'm so sorry, if I –"

"Don't worry about it," he said firmly. "Unless you do end up moving here. Then it might turn awkward."

"Yeah, that's not happening." She gave him a tight smile. "I _am_ really glad I came, though. It gave me a much clearer picture of Stars Hollow. I'm happy I met Sookie." She looked around the diner again, but this time in appreciation. "I'm glad I got to see your domain."

"My domain," he said, mockingly.

Lorelai took a last gulp of coffee and got to her feet. "I need to get back to Hartford. My mother's got a thing tonight, and I'm supposed to make an appearance."

"You said something like that the other day. What does your mother do?"

"She fundraises. She entertains. She one-ups the Hartford aristocracy whenever possible."

"That sounds…like my worst nightmare."

"Ha, sometimes mine, too." She reached for her wallet.

"Hey, I thought we had an understanding about that," Luke warned her.

"Ah, but I realized later that there's nothing stopping me from leaving a tip." She slipped a bill under her cup and smiled at him. "Bye, Luke. See you in another life."

He smiled back. "Isn't that how we met in the first place?"

"We did." Her smile trembled, just the smallest bit. "And now we've met in this one, too."

He watched as she left the diner, this time for good.

 _His domain._ He snorted in derision.

* * *

Much later that night, Luke came out of the kitchen, having finished the prep work for the next day. To his shock, Rachel was sitting at a table in the dim light, sipping a cup of tea.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you still doing down here? I thought you went upstairs a long time ago."

Rachel took a deep breath before looking up at him. "I wanted to talk, Luke. And I thought it might be easier to talk down here, rather than upstairs."

"Well, that doesn't sound good." He could feel how strained his smile was, as he sat down to face her.

She played with the mug's handle for a little bit before she spoke again. "Did you know that woman who was in here today?"

He wondered if she could sense how hard his heart was beating. "There were a lot of women in here today, Rachel, and I probably knew all of them. You might need to narrow it down some."

"Fine. I will." She looked at him straight-on. "The really pretty brunette, with the striking blue eyes. The one Sookie befriended."

"She was in town before, I think." _Not a lie._

"Did you talk to her?"

"Yeah. Sure." Luke shrugged with deliberate carelessness. "She seems like the type who talks to everybody." _Still not a lie._

Rachel began to say something else, but stopped. She tried to take another sip of tea, but her hands were shaking and she sat the cup back down. "Did she…did she tell you what I said?"

"What _you_ said?" His brain couldn't process what was going on. "No, of course not. What are you talking about? You mean today?"

"No, not today." It seemed as if it was a huge effort for her to get the words out. "What I said the other time she was here."

"The other time…Does this have something to do with the way you treated her today?"

"Yeah. I'm so ashamed of the way I acted, but I was terrified when I saw her again." Rachel looked down at the table. "I was in a panic, scared to death that maybe she'd told you what I'd said."

Luke was beginning to see that he wasn't the only one with secrets. "OK, I think you'd better just tell me. What did you say to her before?"

"Things I should have said to you." She faced him with resolve.

His insides felt frozen. "Such as?"

"Luke, first let me say…I never meant to tell her the things I did. I can't even really explain why it all came tumbling out. It was almost like…Well, like she _knew_ me, somehow. The questions she asked…the words just flew out of me."

"Don't worry about that, Rachel. Just tell me."

She nodded solemnly. "I ended up saying that I should have never come back here to Stars Hollow." She took another big breath of air and slowly let it out. "I said that you…should have never believed me when I said I wanted to stay."

He blinked a couple of times. "Oh," he said, absorbing her words.

"I'm sorry, Luke. I'm so sorry."

He could barely believe that this was happening. "Forget sorry right now. Let's just get through this. Just tell me what you need to."

"OK. Well, the truth is…I'm not happy." She looked frankly at him. "And I'm pretty sure you're not, either."

"I'm not," he agreed, the words slow to come out of his mouth. "And…I guess I did suspect that you weren't, too. I'm aware we should have talked about this a long time ago, but somehow it was easier to just let things stay the way they were."

She smiled sadly at him. "It's so hard to believe that the man who can stand in the middle of the diner, or in town meetings, and rant so eloquently, is the same guy who never wants to rock the boat in private."

Luke smiled back, absently. "So, what _would_ make you happy?"

"To get out of Stars Hollow," she said, with very little forethought.

"Well, that hasn't changed," Luke muttered.

"To take pictures again," she added, tilting her chin up defiantly. "To feel like I was out in the world again, and maybe making a little bit of difference."

He shrugged. "So, what's the solution, then?"

Rachel caught her breath, as if she hadn't expected to jump right to the main part. "I leave."

Neither of them said anything else. Somewhere, Luke could hear water dripping. _I should go find that leak before it gets worse_ , he thought.

"When?" he finally asked.

"As soon as we can reach some decisions."

For so long things had been at a standstill, and now they were spinning so fast he could barely keep track. "What are you thinking here? That you'd leave for a while, then come back? Like a separation?"

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. "No."

"OK," Luke said, amazed at the calmness in his voice. "Do you want to go the counseling route? Should we go find someone to talk to, see if there's still a way to salvage this?"

Rachel looked startled, but then she chuckled. "Oh, Luke. You are the best." She leaned across the table and put her hand on his arm. "For you to even consider counseling…" She shook her head, smiling at him. "Thank you for that, but we both know there's no need for it. I do love you. I hope you know that. That's what's kept me around this long. The problem is that I don't love you enough to put your happiness above my own."

His head jerked up when she said that. "That's not the way marriage works. You shouldn't have to put aside your happiness. That's a load of crap. Of course you have as much right to happiness as I do. Sacrifice doesn't equal love."

"But it sort of does. If I loved you more than anything in the world, I'd be happy to stay here with you. It wouldn't be a sacrifice. I'd find something else to do to give me fulfillment. I've thought, you know, about opening a photography studio, or at least doing some freelance stuff locally. But that's not what I want. I don't want to be here, Luke, whether you're here or not. Not wanting to stay in Stars Hollow doesn't actually have anything to do with you. But if I loved you, _really_ loved you…" She gave him another wistful smile. "Then I'd stay. It wouldn't even be a consideration."

Some of the words he'd said so recently to Lorelai were still in his mind. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Her eyebrows rose. "Do _you_ want to come with me?"

He struggled with how to answer. "I could try it."

She laughed again, kindly. "You'd hate it."

"It's the same issue, isn't it? If I loved you enough, I wouldn't even hesitate, would I? I'd pack a bag and get on the plane with you." He reached his hand out across the table and she clasped it in hers.

"I'm sorry, Luke," she said again.

He nodded, believing her sincerity. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do?"

She took her hand away and sat back in her chair. "Actually…I put some feelers out a couple of weeks ago, just to see. After I talked to that woman. And…there's been some interest."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I, uh, I wasn't going to do anything about it. I wasn't. I was just…curious." Rachel sighed. "But then, when she showed up again today, it almost seemed like some sort of sign. Like fate was telling me I should do this on my own terms, and be honest with you about it, instead of waiting for an unexpected axe to fall on me. It seemed the least I could do was to sit down with you and force us to have an honest conversation."

Luke was still trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "How soon do you want to do this?"

Rachel looked extremely uncomfortable. "I'd like to get out of here tomorrow."

" _What?"_ Luke thought he must have misheard.

She looked at him frankly. "I'm cutting and running, Luke. I don't want to stick around for the inevitable gossip and dirty looks. I'm sorry to leave you with it, but the town loves you. You'll be OK. They've been waiting for me to leave for four years."

"Come on. That's not true."

"Oh, you know it is. And it's fine. I accept it. I just want out." She smiled bravely. "I know I'll need to come back for the legal stuff, and I will. Just let me know when and where."

"So we're jumping right to divorce, are we? Is that how you want it?"

"Don't you? The minimum of fuss?"

"It just seems so…" Again, he searched for a word. "Abrupt."

"I think it's been hanging over our heads since the day I came back."

"When did you become such a fatalist?"

"Once I realized both of us tried to never be in the diner at the same time."

Shame hit him. "Oh, Rachel –"

"Hey, it's OK. I'm not blaming you – or me. We tried. We wanted it to work. It just didn't. Now it's time for both of us to try and find something better. Something happier." She smiled again, being relentlessly upbeat to hide her insecurities and sadness. "Since you know all of the women who frequent the diner, once I'm gone, maybe you should go chat some of them up."

"I'm not gonna –!"

"Luke, it's a joke. Just trying to lighten the mood."

He scowled at her, not willing to put on a happy face. "Take the car," he said instead, his voice gruff.

"You're sure?"

"Of course. I'm good with the truck." He paused, trying to think ahead to what other decisions would be coming. "We'll get some advice on how to divide up everything else."

"I'm not worried about that. I know you'll insist on fairness."

"Use the credit cards. Don't hesitate to write checks until you get settled." He looked at her openly, and for the first time since he sat down at the table, with regret, too. "I trust you, too. I know there won't be any disputes between us."

"Maybe it would have been better if we'd cared enough to fight sometimes."

"Maybe so." He leaned forward in his chair and cleared his throat. "Um, you're staying here tonight?"

"Yeah." She frowned. "Is that not OK?"

"No, it's fine. I'll sleep on the couch."

"There's no need to do that. It's not like there's been a lot of _that_ going on lately, anyway."

"I know. I guess I'd just feel better if we had a clear division concerning everything, that's all."

"I understand. I wouldn't want to compromise your gentlemanly instincts." She got up and came hesitantly around the table to him. "Hug? For old time's sake?"

"Of course." He stood up too and hugged her tightly, remembering all of their years together – and all of the ones apart. "I'm sorry, Rachel."

"Me too." She sighed and pulled away. "Coming up soon?"

"Yeah, pretty soon." He pushed the chair under the table precisely, deliberately drawing out the commonplace procedure. "Hey, Rachel?"

She was already walking towards the curtain at the rear of the dining room, but she paused and looked back at him. "What?"

"We should probably feel worse about all of this than what we do, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, we should," she admitted soberly. "I think it tells us everything we need to know that we don't."

He nodded, and watched her disappear behind the curtain. He picked up her cup to take it into the kitchen and wash it up. Once he got back there he listened for the dripping from earlier. It would feel good to fix that problem, too.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Are you happy that Lorelai has visited Stars Hollow? Are you glad that Rachel is gone? Are Lorelai and Sookie always destined to be friends? Speaking of friends…since we're chatting, let me apologize for getting rid of some beloved characters. When I wrote the original story, I never dreamed that I'd visit it again. I thought that the knowledge of Jess's death would bring about a moment of bittersweet bonding between Lorelai and Luke, nothing more. If it's any consolation, I screwed myself by killing off Mia, too. Anyway, just remember that in every other alternate timeline, Rory and Jess both exist and are probably living happily ever after, no matter where they are!

In addition...Ding, ding, ding! **Sondrasr** wins a prize for her prescient review last night! You all know I love to throw things in from other sources, and this chapter features a shout-out to Janet, the _Good Place's_ best non-girl, with Lorelai's "I'm not. I am not. Am I?" as well as a nostalgic nod to _Lost_. ("See you in another life." _Not Penny's boat_...sniff.) As always, thanks to **Eledgy** for her thoughtful beta questions. And a special note to **Nancy** \- I tell Eledgy ALL THE TIME to write!

See you in another...chapter!


	4. The Dragonfly

"Luke!" Sookie St. James greeted him in her usual exuberant way as she climbed up onto a seat at the counter. "Listen, I have a favor to ask you."

"A favor?" Luke questioned warily. He didn't think Sookie would be the type to try and wheedle information out of him about his split from Rachel, but you never knew. In the weeks since Rachel left, their breakup had definitely been the most popular topic of conversation, not only in the diner, but everywhere else he'd ventured to within Stars Hollow. The persistence of the gossipy queries made him extra-cautious with everyone.

"You know Lorelai, right?" Sookie asked.

It was something of a gut-punch, to hear her name again. "Yeah, I know Lorelai."

Sookie nodded her head enthusiastically. "Well, she asked me to find somebody who could go look at some property with us today, somebody who not only knows Stars Hollow, but who knows something about construction, too. Anyway, I thought of you right away, because you _definitely_ know the town, plus you renovated this place, so I figure you know all of that building stuff. So what do you think? Would you be willing to go with us?"

"Wait. Back up. What property?"

"Did you ever hear about the old Dragonfly place?"

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me!" Luke growled.

"Um, no." Sookie frowned at him. "Why, is that bad?"

Luke didn't even know where to begin. "Is she crazy?" he fumed.

"Yes!" Sookie giggled. "And it's awesome!"

He rubbed a hand over his eyes and sighed deeply. "Tell me how this even got started."

"I guess that day when I took her on the tour of the town. She was asking me all sorts of questions about the Independence, and then she asked me if I knew where the Dragonfly was."

"Aww, geez," Luke muttered, bending his head down to stare at the counter.

"And I didn't – I hadn't even heard of it, truthfully. But Taylor was nearby, listening, like he always does, and he gave us a general idea about where it had been located."

"Taylor. Naturally."

"Anyway, Lorelai was curious, and she knew somebody in Hartford who could look up property records, and they were able to find the information on it."

"Really?" Luke was interested in spite of himself.

"And guess what?" Sookie could barely contain her excitement. "It turns out Fran owned it!"

"Fran? Fran Weston?"

"Yes! Or at least, her family did, and the property eventually got passed down to her. And since I dealt with her family's lawyers about the bakery, I knew who to contact about it."

"Guess you've kept in touch with Lorelai, huh?" Luke tried to ask the question casually, but he felt wounded, knowing that he'd been replaced with Sookie.

"Yeah, we've met up a couple of times since that day. We just really hit it off. Somehow our brains just sort of…" Sookie interlaced her fingers together and wiggled them. "To look at us, you wouldn't think so, but we just fit together."

"And you're going to go see this place?"

"Yeah, today. One of Fran's grandsons is going to meet us there. There's been no interest in the property forever, so it's not listed with a realtor or anything like that."

Luke felt ready to explode from irritation. "Is she _serious_ about this?"

"What do you mean?" Sookie tilted her head at him, as if she couldn't comprehend his question.

"I mean –" Luke paced back and forth behind the counter a couple of times, holding his hat down on top of his head with his hands. "She can't be seriously considering this, can she? It's nuts! She doesn't know anything about running an inn! She doesn't even live here! What the hell is she _thinking_?"

"Luke, calm down. Right now all we're doing is looking at a piece of property. No one's signed a letter of intent, or anything like that. We're just curious, that's all." Sookie fixed him with as stern of a gaze as she had in her. "Besides, it's not just Lorelai, it's me, too. _If_ this would happen, and that's a big if, we'd be partners. That's a long way off, though. Today we're just going window-shopping. Or…casual inn-shopping, I guess you'd say."

He became aware that others in the diner were watching them inquisitively, wondering what was going on. He forced himself to cool down.

"Look, Sookie." He leaned across the counter, closer to her, keeping his voice low. "You might have to be the voice of reason, here. You might have to be the one to keep her on the ground, if she goes crazy about this."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's it to you, Luke? If Lorelai is interested in taking this on, why should you care?"

He took a step back, swallowing hard. He couldn't exactly say, _Because it's my fault! I'm the one who told her about the cockamamie Dragonfly Inn in the first place!_ _She got the idea from me!_

"Because…from the little bit I've seen, she seems sort of impulsive. And I wouldn't want her to get all caught up in something she can't handle. And you, too. I wouldn't want you to end up losing money, or getting hurt, somehow."

"Aww, Luke." Sookie looked at him fondly. "Don't worry about that. After the fiasco I had with the bakery, I'll be twice as cautious. Although, I do still want to run my own place. The taste I had with the bakery convinced me of that, more than ever." She paused, giggling. "The _taste_ I had – get it?"

He folded his arms across his chest and sighed. "Yeah. I get it."

"Anyway, would you be willing to come along with us to look at the place? _You_ could be our voice of reason, or bucket of ice water, however you want to play it." She grinned at him.

"Sure, I'll come," Luke agreed, still feeling cranky about it. "When?"

"Around 4? We have a narrow window of opportunity. Lorelai's leaving work as early as she can, and I don't have to be at the Independence until dinner shift. Oh, that's probably the same for you – you can be back here before the dinner crowd hits, too, so that's good. Of course there's no power on at the place, so we need to be out of there well before dark. It's probably plenty creepy back there after the sun goes down."

"That sounds like a real selling point," Luke said sarcastically. When Sookie didn't respond to his dig, he moved on, resigned to becoming a part of the craziness. "Fine, give me the address."

"I'm not sure there is an address. Let me draw you a map." She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the counter and motioned for Luke to give her his pen.

"This just gets better and better," Luke commented cynically, watching as Sookie quickly sketched some lines on the napkin.

"OK. You know how Orchard curves and dips, right before you go past the old mill? Well, to get to the Dragonfly you just keep driving down the road." She continued drawing a long wavy line. "Finally you'll get to the point where you think you have _got_ to be lost, but then you'll see two big iron posts and a fancy old gate, all covered with vines." She drew a big 'X' on the napkin. "That's it!" She turned the rudimentary map over to him.

"How long do you think it takes to get there?" Luke asked, staring at the lines on the napkin.

"Probably not all that long. Fifteen minutes? I think it just feels longer when you're not sure where you're going."

"You guys have been out there already?" There it was again, that small ache of being left out.

"Yeah. Well, we've been out here, on the road." Sookie leaned over so she could tap her finger against the line next to the 'X.' "There's no way to get back to the inn itself, although Lorelai was game to climb over the fence the day we drove out there." She looked at Luke proudly. "I put a stop to that."

"Good for you." He still thought the whole idea was insane, but he knew he'd feel better if he was there to protect them as the insanity played out. "Guess I'll see you over there this afternoon."

"Thanks, Luke! We really appreciate it." Sookie hopped down from the stool. "We'll have to pay you back somehow. Oh, I know! You can stay at the Dragonfly for free, once we get it up and running!"

"Dear God, I hope not," Luke muttered to himself, as he watched Sookie leave the diner. He looked at the scrawled map one more time before he stuck it into his shirt pocket.

* * *

Sookie's directions proved to be spot-on. He was experiencing the first panicky feelings of being hopelessly lost when he saw Lorelai's black car parked alongside the road ahead. He pulled in behind her.

She got out of her car immediately and walked back to his truck, a welcoming, social smile on her face. "Hi, are you –" she began to say, before she got a clear view through the driver's side window. "Luke! What are you…" She groaned and briefly covered her eyes with her hands. "Don't tell me. You're the guy Sookie tapped to do the walk-through with us today."

"I take it you don't want me here," he said, not even trying to hide his miffed feelings.

"Of course I don't! Aww, man." She leaned her forearms on the truck's door, right below the rolled down window, and bowed her head in distress. "The last thing I wanted to do was to cause more trouble for you." She raised her head to look at him. "What are the odds that Sookie would go to you? I guess I should have specifically told her, 'Hey, Sook, find any guy to do this, except for the one whose life I've totally disrupted. You know, the guy with the wife who already hates me.'" She groaned again in frustration and smacked a hand against her forehead. "Luke, I'm so sorry. Go ahead and get out of here. I'll make up an excuse to Sookie."

Luke had a mini-epiphany. "You don't want me here because of Rachel."

"Exactly! Now go!" she urged, stepping away from the truck.

"You've been staying away because of Rachel," he further deduced.

"Yeah, I'm something of a specialist on jealous women. Get out of here!" She waved her arms down the road. "Snazzy truck, by the way," she commented, when he made no move to leave.

"Thanks." He opened the door and got out, much to Lorelai's consternation.

"Luke! I'm trying to save you some grief here! Go now!"

"It's fine, Lorelai, it's not a problem." Before he could explain further, they heard vehicles coming their way. A big SUV rolled to a stop behind his truck, and Sookie's beat-up old car followed right behind. "I'll talk to you later," he promised her instead. "But it's all OK. There's no need to worry."

Lorelai gave him one more exasperated look before turning her society face back on. She stepped over to the thirty-something man getting out of the SUV. "Frank? I'm Lorelai Gilmore."

"Hello! Yes, I'm Frank Weston, Fran's grandson." He shook her hand happily. "You could have knocked me down when the lawyer called and said someone wanted to see this old place. We didn't think anyone would ever be interested in it."

"Well, surprise!" Sookie said, as she walked up to join them. "We are!"

"Hey, Sookie! Nice to see you again." Frank shook Sookie's hand, too. "I'm sorry the bakery didn't work out for you."

"Me too. I feel like I let Fran down. The place is going to be a cellphone store, from what I hear," she replied sadly.

Frank turned to Luke. "The diner, right? Luke?"

"Yeah, that's right. Luke Danes." He shook hands, too.

Frank smiled at him. "Gran was very fond of you and your family. It pleased her when you took over your dad's place. She told us over and over how proud your dad would have been, to see you give his store new life."

"Is that right?" Luke was surprised; Fran had certainly never said anything like that to him.

"Oh, yes! In fact, any time that we were in town to visit, she insisted that we had to stop by the diner for a bite to eat. When I was a boy, staying with Gran during the summer, I was in the old hardware store plenty, too. If the bakery or her house needed repairs, she'd send me over to pick up the supplies."

"Hardware store?" Lorelai asked, looking at Luke in confusion.

"Something else I'll tell you later," he vowed to her in an aside.

"Well, shall we?" Frank took a ring of keys out of his pocket as he walked over to the imposing gate. "Luke, would you give me a hand?"

Frank fitted a key into the rusted padlock, and after several tries, got it to open. He removed the heavy chain that had been keeping the gate together. He took one side of the gate, Luke the other, and with some effort, they were able to loosen the ironwork from the decades of weeds and vines. The overgrown lane that led back to the inn became visible.

"I suggest we drive back," Frank said. "No one's probably been here in ten, maybe twenty years. No telling what we'll find."

"Get in the truck," Luke told Lorelai. "Don't risk your car."

"Good idea," Frank agreed. "Sookie, why don't you ride with me? Not sure your car is up to the trip through the jungle." As they all got into the vehicles, he added cheerfully, "Hope you all have your shots!"

"See?" Luke muttered. "Even this guy thinks this is insane, and he's probably dying to sell the place!" He backed the truck up so that he could turn into the lane.

"What do you mean, _even this guy_? What's insane about this?" Lorelai demanded.

He spared her a scathing glance. "You know damn well what's insane about it."

" _This_ has nothing to do with _that_!" she replied hotly.

"Really?" he sneered.

"Really! I told you, running an inn has always been a dream of mine!"

"A dream for which you have no experience!" The truck bounced sideways over a rut, and he had to concentrate on driving.

Lorelai grabbed the door as they continued the rough ride down the path. "And you think I'm just a pretty face, huh? Some frail little woman, incapable of hard work or learning anything new? You think I can't hack this?"

Luke chanced taking one hand off the wheel, so that he could point at the dainty sneakers on her feet. "All signs indicate no." He gestured to his own feet, which were encased in protective work boots. "You think there's going to be a golden pathway back here, leading you right to the front door so you don't have to get dirty?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to rebuke him, but suddenly closed it. She looked down at her feet. "Oh," she said softly, conceding his point. "But these are cute," she added a moment later, attempting a very subdued argument.

"They're not going to be cute after you fight your way through the sticker bushes and weeds."

She didn't reply right away, as she looked at her feet. "I'll learn," she finally said confidently.

Ahead of them, Frank's car came to a stop, so Luke hit the brakes, too. "Just don't get in over your head. Don't make some sort of instant decision here that's going to ruin your life, just because you feel like you owe it to that other Lorelai."

"That is _not_ –!"

Squeals from Sookie interrupted them. She was out of Frank's car and bounding back to them in excitement. "Lorelai! Oh God, _Lorelai_! Look at this place! _Look at it_!"

Lorelai swung open the truck's door and dropped to the ground, not caring about the knee-high weeds that greeted her. She looked at the dilapidated structure before them in wonder. "Oh, Sookie. It's…It's…" She put her arm around Sookie's shoulders, never taking her eyes off of the crumbling building.

"It's perfect," Sookie marveled.

"Perfect," Lorelai agreed joyfully.

Still sitting inside the truck, Luke buried his head in his hands.

* * *

While the women were gazing in awestruck admiration at the ruins before them, Frank opened the back of his SUV and wrestled out an industrial-size string trimmer.

"Borrowed this from the lawn crew at my office," he explained. "I had a feeling we might need it." He put on some goggles and ear protection. "Watch out! It's mighty loud!" he yelled at them, then fired up the equipment.

The girls put their hands over their ears and turned their backs. It didn't take long before Frank had created a more manageable path to the old inn's front porch.

"See? _He_ was prepared," Luke said smugly to Lorelai. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"That makes it a little easier," Frank said, waiting for them to join him. "Plus, the noise probably scared off all of the critters lurking nearby."

Luke grabbed Lorelai's arm before she could dash up the porch steps. "Don't walk up the middle, go to the side, just in case the boards are rotted out."

"In fact, let me go first," Frank suggested. He gingerly mounted the steps. "Yeah, those are bad." He turned and gave his hand to Lorelai, then Sookie, helping them to navigate the spongy boards.

"Now let's see if we can get inside." When Frank tried to open the ancient screen door, it fell off the hinges into his hands. "Well, that takes care of that," he muttered, and laid the decrepit door on its side, underneath the windows overlooking the porch. He pulled a different keyring from his pocket and made the first of several attempts to get the rusted tumblers to turn in the lock. "There we go," he said with satisfaction, as the lock gave way. Smiling, he turned around to look at them, his hand on the doorknob. "You ready to see inside?"

"Yes!" Lorelai said, bouncing on her toes in excitement. Sookie nodded maniacally.

He swung the door open and stepped cautiously inside. Luke switched on a gigantic flashlight he'd brought along, and aimed the beam inside the entry.

Lorelai looked at the light, and then at him, before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I get it. You came prepared."

"Sookie said that there wasn't any power on," Luke explained. "Although the way the roof looks, there's probably plenty of daylight coming in anyway."

The girls were finally able to enter the building. "Be careful!" Luke yelled at them, before they disappeared into the dim, dusty structure. "Watch where you step!"

The next thirty minutes were filled with shrieks and shouts. Frank and Luke tried to keep up with them, but they were impossible to corral.

"Sookie! Look at the desk! Look at all the little slots behind it! That's got to be original, don't you think?"

"Lorelai! You won't believe the built-in china cabinets in here!"

"Oh my God, I could stand up in this fireplace!"

"I found the kitchen!" Silence. "Um, it needs… _some_ work."

"I can't wait to see upstairs!"

Again, Luke grabbed Lorelai's arm as she raced past him. "No way you're going up there."

She tried to shake him off. "Of course I am."

He refused to let go. "Did you even glance at the roof? Or at least, the little bit of roof that's still up there? Are you seeing all of the holes in the ceiling? Can you see where the water's just been flooding through this whole place? I wouldn't trust this staircase, or any of the floor boards up there."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly, trying to peel his fingers from her elbow.

"He's right," Frank agreed. "It's not safe, Lorelai. If you and Sookie are serious, let me get someone in here to shore things up first. In fact, if you two want to look the place over thoroughly, I'll get someone to clear out the drive and put a load of gravel between this building and the barn, so you can really see what the old Dragonfly has to offer."

"There's a _barn_?" Lorelai asked, dumbfounded. "Sookie! We can have horses!"

"Hallelujah!" Sookie rejoiced at the news.

"Or, here's an idea," Luke grumbled. "Why don't you go take all of your money out of the bank, find some horses in a field on your way home, lean over the fence, and just feed the money directly to them? That's got to be a whole lot more efficient."

"You are no fun," Lorelai snapped at him.

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I know. I could have told you that."

"I'll tell you what else I can do," Frank spoke up. "I've got the original drawings for the building. Why don't I get them scanned and send a copy to you? I can do the same thing with the property map. That way you can see exactly what's for sale here."

"That would be amazing," Lorelai said, giving him a smile.

"For now, let's go back out on the porch, out of the dust," Frank suggested. Once there, he pointed out past the sloping yard. "The property runs all the way in that direction to the creek." He swung his arm ninety degrees to the right. "And here, it runs up to the mill's boundary. It's about 27 acres total, if I remember correctly." He motioned behind the building. "The barn is back that way, and there's a carriage house, too. I think there's a little garden shed, or something else like that. Of course, time and nature might have had their way with those structures. We'll just have to see."

Lorelai sighed in satisfaction. "This is perfect. Perfect location, perfect layout. I can't imagine anything better."

Luke gave her a sharp look. "You mean, besides a roof and floors and some walls? Those little amenities sort of mean a lot in the long run."

"And…a kitchen would be nice," Sookie said hesitantly.

"I don't expect an answer from you today," Frank said. "But if you have a real interest, I'll call you after I make some safety repairs, so that you can see and judge what you're getting into. I don't think it's any secret that the place has been going to waste for years. I _could_ go ahead and get an appraisal on it, so that we could talk numbers the next time we meet." He smiled at all of them. "I have a feeling I can make you a pretty good deal on it."

Luke was ready to jump in again as the voice of reason, but Lorelai seemed to suddenly click over into business mode.

"Yes, that scenario seems doable. We'd definitely need to examine the entire property before coming to a conclusion. I'm in the process of doing some market analysis on the area, too, and those numbers will play into our decision as well. Thank you, though, for being willing to make it easier to inspect the property. That's very generous of you."

"Well, the place isn't doing anyone any good the way it is. I'd like to see it up and running again. The whole family would like that."

"Yes, this place _could_ be an absolutely amazing –"

One second Lorelai was standing there. The next, the board under her left foot disintegrated, and she went down. It happened so quickly that she had no time to shriek or scream. She made just one little squeak of surprise.

" _Lorelai!"_ Luke dashed over to her. He grasped her under her arms and tried to raise her up.

"Ouch!" she complained, wincing, as her leg stayed stuck in the broken floorboard.

"OK. I'm going to ease you back down here." When her bottom hit the floor, he released his grip on her, and then knelt beside her, judging the situation. He immediately saw that the ragged pieces of the shattered board had her leg pinned in place. "I'm going to break some more of this off, so we can get you out. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," she bluffed, but her face had paled so much that he was surprised to see that freckles lurked underneath her makeup.

"Tell me if anything hurts."

"Oh, don't worry – I will!"

The broken board was so soft and spongy that he had no trouble making the opening bigger. "Let's try it now," he said, and gently pulled her leg free. Instantly she made a move to stand up. "Whoa, don't do that. Let's make sure nothing's broken first."

"Yes, take it easy," Frank counseled, his concern evident.

Luke took her foot in his hand and rotated it lightly. "Does that hurt?"

"No, it's all good," Lorelai said. "No need to fuss."

"Oh, Lorelai, you're bleeding!" Sookie pointed out.

"Just a couple of scratches," Lorelai insisted. "No big deal."

"Ugh! If only my car was here!" Sookie turned and looked down the long driveway. "I've practically got a full emergency room packed into it."

"Why?" Luke asked, in spite of himself.

"Because I'm a teensy bit accident prone. I've learned to be prepared for all self-inflicted disasters – sort of like the Boy Scouts."

"Wait!" Frank looked excited. "I think I've got a first aid kit in my glove box. Let me go see." He dashed to his car and soon shouted triumphantly. "Yes!" He came back, already opening the small red bag. "My wife told me she'd put one in my car, and I couldn't imagine when I'd ever need it. Now I'm glad she did. I'll have to tell her she was right tonight. That'll make her happy."

Sookie took over the treatment, breaking out an antiseptic pad and several bandages. "You should get a tetanus shot," she advised Lorelai.

"Let me drive you to a clinic right now," Frank offered. "I feel terrible that you got hurt."

"Seriously, guys, I'm fine." Lorelai struggled up to her feet, Luke only thinking to help her after she was already standing. Tentatively, she put weight down on her foot. "See? All good." She took several firm steps around the porch to prove it.

"You should still get it checked out," Sookie urged.

"The shot is probably a good idea," Lorelai conceded. "I can't remember how long ago I had one, so it was probably ages ago."

"Send me the bill," Frank requested.

"No need," Lorelai said. "Let's just forget it happened."

"Don't forget," Luke protested. "Remember and be more cautious while you're poking around here."

Frank looked at his watch. "I hate to injure you and leave, but I'm afraid that's what I'm going to have to do. I've got a dinner meeting I need to get ready for. You're sure you're all right?"

"Everything's great," Lorelai assured him again.

"I'll get all of the materials I promised to you in a day or two."

"Thanks. We'll look forward to looking them over." Lorelai shook his hand. "Thanks so much for meeting us here today."

"My pleasure." He turned to shake Sookie's hand as well.

"Could you give me a lift down the lane to my car, Frank? I've got to get to my job."

"Certainly. Nice meeting both of you," he said to Luke and Lorelai. He walked over to the front door and was able to lock it back up with less effort than when they arrived. "Although I don't know why I'm bothering. Who would be willing to make the trek all the way back here?" he muttered, mostly to himself. "Luke, would you be willing to put the gate back in place as you leave?"

"Sure, no problem," Luke agreed.

"And Lorelai, let me know if that ankle gives you any trouble at all."

"I will, but I'm certain it won't."

Sookie bumped her elbow against Lorelai's side as followed Frank down the porch steps. "Call you tonight."

"You'd better," Lorelai warned her, smiling widely.

As soon as Frank's car was out of sight, Lorelai turned to Luke. "There's something I need you to do for me," she said urgently.

"Geez – you _are_ hurt." He put his arm around her, jumping to the conclusion that she needed help to stay on her feet.

"Hey, keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Touchy-McFeely. No, as I've said about a dozen times already, I'm fine." She disentangled herself from him and walked over to one of the faded green shutters decorating the porch windows. "When I was down for the count, I could see there was something stuffed behind this shutter. Can you help me to pry whatever it is out?"

"Like a wasp's nest?" Luke asked sourly.

"I don't think so, it looks like some sort of papers. I'm just curious to see what it might be, that's all. Sort of like digging for buried treasure."

"Sure, let's go poke around, because only having one injury per day is for slackers." But he went to help anyway, cautiously inserting his hand behind the shutter as Lorelai eased it out away from the wall. "You're right, it does feel like paper," he commented, as his fingers came into contact with the unknown material. "Maybe they needed something to shim it up with?" He stretched out his fingers and was finally able to pull out a small stack of cards. He glanced at them before handing them over to Lorelai. "They look like postcards."

"God, Luke, look at these. They're _amazing_. Look how pretty they are, even though they're so faded. Do you think they're from the 20's or 30's? I mean, they look like Art Nouveau, don't they? Or Art Deco? I always forget which style is which. Look at the lady's bobbed hair and the fancy borders." Lorelai fanned the three cards out so he could see them easier. " _'Let's go to the Dragonfly,'_ " she read off the first card. " _'We met at the Dragonfly.'_ _'We fell in love at the Dragonfly._ '" Delighted with the find, Lorelai hugged them to her chest. "This is exactly the sort of style I'm envisioning for this place."

"Don't," Luke warned her ominously.

"Don't what?"

"Don't go building these crazy castles in the sky. This isn't possible, and you know it."

"Why isn't it possible? Luke, I _love_ this place!" She flung out her arms, encompassing the whole property, before hugging the postcards again. "I _really_ want to do this."

"It's a money pit," he informed her gloomily. "My only hope is that you run out of money before the place can kill you." He pointed ominously at the hole in the porch floor.

"What is _wrong_ with you? Why are you being so grumpy?" she demanded, annoyed.

He shrugged. "That's me. I _am_ grumpy. Ask anybody."

"No, you're not. The guy in the park, the guy in the diner wasn't grumpy like this. What's going on?"

"Maybe he was from an alternate universe too, and you've finally got the real one." He glared at her. "Convince me this doesn't have anything to do with _her_. Tell me one good reason why _you_ want to do this."

She went still. "Because you asked me if I liked my job."

"Yeah? So?"

"So I never thought about it that way before, if I actually enjoy what I'm doing. I like the perks. I like the title under my name on my business cards. I like the fancy office. I like people looking impressed when they hear what I do. I _really_ like the money." She looked at him. "I even like that my parents are proud of me. But do I _like_ the job itself? No."

"Why not?"

"Because it all seems so silly, when you think about it. Companies pay us lots of money, so that we can convince the public to give those same companies tons of their own hard-earned dollars. Then the companies come back to us, and the cycle starts again." She shook her head. "It sounds like a scam, doesn't it?"

"There's always going to be advertising, though. And as you said, you're good at it."

"But do I _like_ it? See, there's the rub. You're the one who made me examine my feelings, so you don't get to tell me to just forget it now. I should be doing something that makes me happy. Something that I can be proud of." She looked at him honestly. "I don't know that I've ever been 100% committed to anything – or any _one_ , for that matter. I don't think I've ever felt all-in on anything, and I want that, Luke. I want to know what it's like to be totally wrapped up in something; something that means the world to me; something that I've created."

Her earnestness was eating away at his resistance. He couldn't pretend that he didn't understand what she was talking about. He got it – he did. He just hated to see her dreams get stomped by the cruelty of reality, and somehow it seemed almost more benevolent if he was the one doing the stomping.

"I hate to point this out, but you don't even live here," he said, toning down the degree of antagonism in his comment.

"No, but I don't see what difference that makes. I'm not going to be the one knocking down walls or sawing the boards every day. I'll keep my job for the time being and just drive over as needed during construction. Eventually, then yeah – I'll probably want to move here, if I'm going to run the place."

"But this isn't your area of expertise. I'm sorry, but what do you really know about running an inn?"

"I'll have a lot of time to learn, though. There are online classes, all sorts of books I can study to give me some background. I'll start shadowing hotel staff again, if I need to." She grinned. "Maybe I'll have Sookie sneak me into the Independence and see how they run the place."

Luke snapped his fingers. "There's another good point. How can you possibly compete with the Independence Inn? Why would anybody stay here instead of there?"

"The Independence won't be our competition," Lorelai said firmly. "People who stay at the Independence are in the area for another reason. Either they've been sightseeing or they're driving through and they decide to stay for the night, and the Independence is convenient. The Dragonfly is going to be its own destination. We're going to be the type of place where you book a room for something special, like an anniversary, and then you come back year after year because the experience was so wonderful."

" _We're_ ," Luke said disparagingly, mocking how she'd already claimed it as her own, but at the same time, he was impressed that she'd given it so much thought. "You've made your mind up about this, haven't you? Guess I'm talking just to hear myself talk."

"Um, yeah." She grinned at him, and mainly because she was so cute, crinkling up that nose with the adorable hidden freckles, his reserve thawed completely. "Sorry, but I really want this, Luke. Don't worry, I won't let Frank know that I'm already sold. I'll present a sterner front to him the next time we meet, but I couldn't help it today. This place just ticked off all the boxes for the inn of my dreams."

"Those must be some pretty sorry dreams," he said with a sigh. "OK, though, if you're set on this…you can ask me for help when you need to."

"Really?" She looked shocked. "The way you've been busting my chops about this, and now you say you're willing to _help_ me achieve it?"

"Sure," he confirmed, not seeing where the disconnect was.

"I think I've got whiplash. You're a little mad too, Mr. Danes."

"Not as mad as Caesar will be if I'm late for the dinner rush," Luke said, looking at his watch. "I need to get going. Are you ready?"

"No, but I guess it's time to leave. For today." She walked over to the edge of the porch and began to lean on the railing.

"Don't _do_ that!" Luke yelled, already picturing her toppling over onto the ground below.

"Oh, yeah." Lorelai looked suspiciously at the old railings. "Probably best to assume that nothing's sturdy, huh?"

"Yes, that would be the safest course of action," he said dryly.

Lorelai looked out over the property one more time before she turned to Luke with a meaningful smile. "You know what I think?"

He looked again at his watch before giving a sigh. "Not even in another universe would I know that."

She chuckled appreciatively at his comment before continuing. "In a year, you are going to be sitting right here on this solid, well-built front porch with me. We're going to be lounging on two beautiful antique rocking chairs, sipping on some sort of frosty, alcoholic beverage. We'll be able to look down the landscaped slope here, all the way to the creek, where twinkle lights will be illuminating the pier. We'll hear all of the guests, happily dining on Sookie's amazing food, through the newly installed screen door. And then you will turn to me and say…" She deepened her voice. "'Lorelai, congratulations. You've made this into an amazing place. You were right and I was wrong."

His eyebrows rose. "Really? _I'm_ gonna say that?"

"You will," she said confidently. "Just wait and see."

Again, her smile proved irresistible to him, and in a moment he was smiling right back at her. "I guess we'll have to wait a year for proof of that, but right now I need to hustle back to town."

"Oh, all right." Reluctantly she left the porch and started for his truck.

Luke scrutinized how she was walking. "You're sure you're –?"

"If you're as smart as I think you are, you will not finish that question."

"So sue me, looking out for your welfare." In spite of her protests, he opened the door and helped her in.

Luke turned the truck around in Frank's tracks, and then they bumped back down the lane. He stopped outside the gate. "Do you think you can help me get it closed?"

"Sure. I'm more than just a pretty face, you know."

"So I've heard." They both jumped out and closed up the gate without too much trouble.

Lorelai looked towards her car, then hesitantly put out her hand. "Thanks for coming out here today, Luke. I do appreciate your input."

He took her hand. "Even though you ignored most of it."

"Hey, I didn't lean on the porch railing, did I?"

"True." He kept hold of her hand until she gave him a weird look. "Oh, sorry," he said, immediately dropping it. "Could you hang around for another minute?"

"No problem for me. You're the one with the hot date with a deep fryer."

He barely smiled. "There was just something I wanted to let you know." He bit his lip, trying to figure out how to segue into the subject. "Rachel and I finally had that talk."

"You did? Good for you!" She smiled, but somehow it didn't look the same. "How'd it go?"

"Pretty good. I think…we both got what we wanted out of it."

"That's great, Luke. Really."

"Yeah." He paused for a sigh. "The divorce will be final in about three months."

"Oh, God! Luke, no! I'm so sorry." She put a sympathetic hand on his arm. "Is that really want you want?"

He let her question tease his brain for a few moments. "It feels right, so I think so, yeah. I know it feels good to have it settled, that's for sure."

"But still…that sucks. Divorce sucks. I'm so sorry for both of you."

"Don't be sorry. What you said that day in Hartford was right, that if we couldn't both be happy together, we needed to find a way to be happy apart."

"Oh, man, don't take advice from me when it comes to relationships! I have yet to get it right." She shook her head. "Well, good for you, though, deciding to go for the big talk."

"It wasn't me," he said grimly. "It was –" He laughed wryly when it hit him. "It was you, actually."

" _Me?"_ she yelped. "Oh, no. Don't tell me that."

"Apparently that day when the other you visited Stars Hollow, you and Rachel had quite the talk too."

"No, no, no," she moaned.

"And during this talk, Rachel opened up and admitted a lot of stuff to you. The other you. Guess you just have that effect on people," he commented. "Anyway, she spilled the beans, and then when you- _you_ showed up in the diner, she was terrified that somehow what she said was going to get back to me. That's when she decided her best bet was to tell me the truth about how she felt."

"How many times can I say I'm sorry?"

"You don't have to say it at all. It was for the good, really. We were long past due to have that talk and make that decision."

"But still, I'm –"

"Sorry. Yeah. We're all sorry."

Lorelai gave a deep sigh. "Does Rachel know about the…the other us?"

"Are you kidding? Of course not. I'm not insane. Plus, what good would that have done?"

"I don't know. I guess you're right." She stared at him for a minute, looking like she was thinking about something else. "What's…I mean, where…?"

"She's in Ireland," Luke said, picking up on her thoughts.

"Really? Wow. Wait – why?"

"Taking pictures of some ancient ruins along the coast." Luke shook his head slightly, still not able to believe how quickly she'd been able to revive her career. "She literally left the morning after you were in the diner. She couldn't wait to get out of town."

Lorelai's mouth fell open. "Um…OK. That's…fast."

He shrugged. "Whether she wanted to admit it or not, I think she'd been formulating an escape plan for quite a while."

"How do you feel about that?"

"Truthfully? Lousy. But at the same time, I don't blame her. Mostly I'm just glad we've got everything settled now. Hopefully she'll be happy again."

"And you, too," Lorelai told him firmly.

"I guess that's always a possibility."

"Don't be so gloomy. Of course it is. I mean, _look_ at you." She shook her head at him. "Three months, you said?"

He nodded. "I talked to a lawyer, but she recommended we use a mediator instead. Neither of us are disputing any division of our stuff or anything like that, and there are no children to consider. So far it's been amazingly hassle-free."

"And I hope it continues on in the same way."

"Thanks." He shifted awkwardly on his feet, as he couldn't think of anything else to say. "You'll be able to get out of here and back to the highway OK? I really should get to the diner before Caesar burns the place down."

"Yeah, I'm fine." She pointed to her semi-mangled ankle. "In absolutely every way." She stepped up to him and gave him a quick hug. "Hang in there. It'll get better, I promise."

He figured it wasn't appropriate to admit that things weren't too bad the way they were. "Thanks," he said yet again. He pointed back through the gate. "Let me know how this all turns out."

"You'll be the first to know," she promised, winking.

With that, he got in the truck and retraced his tracks to Stars Hollow. He was startled by how quickly he got back to the diner. Sookie was right, once you knew where you were going, it didn't take long to get there after all.

He told Caesar to take a short break and jumped into service. Soon the only thing in his head was how many meatloaf specials he needed to plate up.

"Hi, can I take your order?" He barely looked up as he approached a brunette sitting at the counter.

"I thought you'd never ask."

"Lorelai! What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "Having dinner?" She pointedly looked down at the empty space in front of her. "At least, that's my goal."

"Uh, OK," Luke said, feeling slightly flustered. "The special's meatloaf tonight."

"Does it come with pie?"

"If that's what you want, sure."

She gave him an appraising look. "Well that was easy. I can have _anything_ I want?"

"As long as it's on the menu," he said drolly, instantly aware that he'd used the wrong words with her. Words _mattered_ to Lorelai. He needed to be on his toes when she was around. He glanced across to the end of the counter, trying to discern what was under the plastic dome. "I think it's peach today."

She wrinkled her nose. "Not my favorite, but OK. Let's give it a try." She looked at him sternly. "You remember about the ice cream, right?"

He pointed to his head. "Forever committed to memory." He gave a quick look around the dining room before leaning just a bit closer to her. "Seriously, though, what are you doing here?"

She ducked her head, almost shyly. "I suddenly realized there was no longer any reason for me to stick to my self-imposed exile. I'm now free to come to the diner if I want to." She looked up, smiling straight at him. "And I wanted to." She smiled even brighter. "And…I _was_ hungry."

As usual, her smile made him smile back. "All acceptable reasons," he agreed. "I'll be right back with your meatloaf."

He rapped the counter with his knuckles and turned to go to the kitchen. As he walked away, he heard her last observation, a quiet one, maybe one meant only for herself.

"Not so grumpy now, are you? My oh my, I wonder why?"

Frankly, he wondered that too.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Yay! We've got Lorelai to the Dragonfly! That's good, right? Maybe things are beginning to align the way they're supposed to! Also, I love Grumpy Luke. He and I understand each other. I'm especially fond of the comment he made, that his only hope is that Lorelai runs out of money before the place can kill her. Next chapter, we'll see what else we can nudge along! Thanks for reading!


	5. Sleeping Arrangements

Over the long months of summer, Luke had gotten pretty good at estimating when Lorelai was going to show up at the diner, ravenous for dinner. She drove to Stars Hollow almost every night after leaving work, and the diner was usually her first stop. After satisfying her hunger and replenishing her caffeine quota, she'd then drive over to the Dragonfly to check out the progress on the renovation.

 _Renovation._ Luke snorted derisively to himself. More like _de_ construction, he thought. More like _dis_ assembl _y_. For not the first time, he wondered if it wouldn't have made more fiscal sense to tear everything down and start fresh. But both Lorelai and Sookie wanted as much of the original to remain as possible. They wanted the ambiance. They wanted the bones of the old Dragonfly to still be there, giving structure and a pedigree to the new.

Her schedule was currently feasible because of the extended daylight of the summer evenings. Luke didn't know what would happen as fall took over and the hours of sunshine faded. Of course, the property _did_ have power feeding to it now, so there were lights inside the construction zone. Luke knew that the plan was to get the building completely enclosed before winter set in, so that the construction crew could continue working, even during the cold, snowy weather.

He went out there with her, as often as he could. He was as interested in seeing the progress as she was – or at least, that's what he told himself. But the truth was that he hated the thought of her being out there by herself in the evenings. He knew she'd explode if she ever sensed he went along as a bodyguard. She was dead set on presenting a strong front to everyone – especially to him. He had to admit that she'd definitely exceeded his expectations.

To begin with, she managed to negotiate a hell of a deal on the property, and after that, the renovation began quickly. Luke recommended the contractor he'd used for the diner, and in record time she had Tom and his whole crew wrapped around her manicured finger. It turned out that she _did_ have a head for business.

 _And a bod for sex._ Luke jumped as the words sprang into his brain, as clearly as if someone had whispered them into his ear. He looked around suspiciously. Geez, where had _that_ come from?

 _S_ o far, everything concerning the renovation seemed to be on track. He didn't know how she was doing it all – working full time, taking online classes, keeping on top of the construction, plus driving roundtrip from Hartford to Stars Hollow on an almost daily basis. He suspected that her massive caffeine consumption had a lot to do with it.

He glanced down at his wristwatch again, and wasn't surprised when the door opened and Lorelai walked in. He smiled smugly. Right on time. He filled up a cup with coffee, knowing it would be the first thing she wanted.

Tonight, though, something about her was…off. He sat the coffee in front of her, then stood there, frowning. "Do you have a headache?"

She looked annoyed. "No, I don't have a –" She stopped abruptly and put a hand to her forehead. "Fine, yes. Apparently I do have a headache."

"I've got aspirin in the kitchen. Want some?"

"No," she said, sounding cranky. "I think it'll go away after I get some coffee and some food."

"OK," he agreed, not wanting to argue. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

She gulped down some coffee before looking up at the specials board. "The pot roast is fine with me."

"Got it." He fixed her plate quickly and put it in front of her with just a nod, before going off to check on other customers.

By the time he came back to fill up her cup, she seemed more relaxed. "Thanks, Luke. Sorry I sort of snapped at you before. It's been a bad 24 hours."

"Everybody has bad days," he said with a shrug, but he studied her again, trying to do so unobtrusively. There was still something not right about her.

"It's your hair," he blurted out, so excited about figuring it out that he neglected to keep his conclusion to himself.

"What?" She smoothed down her hair self-consciously. "What about my hair?"

They'd grown used to mostly speaking their minds to each other. "Something's different about you today, and I just now realized it's your hair."

"Oh." Again, she ran her hands over her hair. "Yeah, I didn't have everything I needed to do my usual routine this morning."

 _Ding-ding-ding_ went the alarm bells in his head, but he wasn't keen on delving into why. "Your hair has a routine?" he instead asked lightly.

"Absolutely. I spend a small fortune every other month on a treatment that relaxes my curls, but I have all sorts of products I have to slather on daily to maintain it, then I have to blow it out a certain way…" She looked up at him with a strained smile. "Do you really care about this?"

Her words echoed in a memory. "Your hair is curly?"

"Oh yeah. Very." Once again, she self-consciously smoothed down her dark strands. "Why are you looking at me like that? All sort of dopey-like?" she complained.

"Because…that day. _You_ know _._ The hair on that other Lorelai, it looked like yours always does, all smooth and straight, but then she told me that normally her hair was curly. I'd forgotten all about that."

Lorelai groaned. "Great. _Her_ again. I wish she'd stay out of my life."

"I know we've sort of agreed not to talk about any of that stuff anymore, but sometimes…" He shook his head. "The freaky factor supersedes the agreement."

"So she had curly hair too. Big deal." She was irritable again.

Luke tried to ask his next question carelessly, because he'd figured out why the alarm bells had sounded. "What threw off your routine this morning?"

"I wasn't home," she said curtly.

Luke wanted to let her admission roll off his back. After all, she _was_ a grown woman, and where she slept was certainly no concern of his. Was it?

"I see," he muttered, not able to control the disapproving tone of his response.

Her head shot up. "No, unfortunately not like that!" she teased, suddenly in a better mood. "You know how my parents are on the warpath about the Dragonfly. Well, last night was the worst fight yet. It finally got to the point where it was either walk out or start throwing things, and I thought that the more mature response was to walk out." She gave him a slightly mischievous look. "I _did_ slam the door as I went, though. No need to be _too_ mature."

"They still haven't accepted that it's happening, huh?"

"No, they are appalled that I'm wasting my education, throwing my life away, and squandering my money. Pick A, B, C, or all of the above. Anyway, I filled up an overnight bag and knocked on Christopher's door. Didn't realize until this morning how much stuff I neglected to grab." She grinned at him. "Lesson learned, don't pack in anger."

A little wave of revulsion passed over him. "Spent the night with Christopher, did you?" he attempted to comment non-judgmentally.

"No, I spent the night _at_ Christopher's. _At_. _With_ is a whole different thing." Possibly she meant to sound lighthearted, but the look on her face was a clear warning to back off.

He didn't want to say anything else, but it came out anyway. "You think that's a good idea?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah, I think it's fine. We've been pals forever. And where else was I going to land at that time of night? He understood, better than anyone else would."

"That's not…confusing? To either of you?"

She looked both peeved and fed up. "No, we're not confused, but apparently you are, so let me help you to understand. Where I sleep concerns me, not you."

He put up his hands and backed away. "Fine. Got it," he said crisply, and turned on his heel, heading to the kitchen. He puttered around back there for five minutes or so, filling up the dishwasher, putting some pans to soak, doing anything he could to bury the annoyance Lorelai could stir up in him without even trying.

"Um, hey, Luke?"

He spun around, dismayed to see her standing in the kitchen doorway. "You can't be back here," he barked, appalled that she was infringing on the dedicated employees-only space.

Instantly she went from meekly apologetic to full-blown anger. "Wow, OK. I can't stay at Christopher's and I can't even take a step into your precious kitchen. Guess I didn't realize that you get to make all the rules. So…bye. I'll go find someplace to hang out where there's less of an attitude."

She stormed out. While he was still debating what to do, he heard the bells jangle over the door, sounding her exit.

She'd eaten less than half of her dinner and hadn't even finished her coffee. A couple of five-dollar bills were tucked against her plate.

"Great," Luke muttered, staring at the mess he'd made.

* * *

It was still hard to find the Dragonfly's entrance from the road, especially at night. There was power and some temporary lighting in the building itself, but the long lane was mostly a mystery in the twilight. Luke drove slowly, watching out both sides of the truck for clues that he was still on the path.

He bounced to a stop in the clearing in front of the old inn, relieved to see Lorelai's car already parked there. He'd been holding his breath the whole way over, hoping that he'd guessed right.

"Lorelai?" He called out a warning as he exited the truck. He didn't want to scare her by appearing unexpectedly. "Hey, it's just me."

"Yeah, I recognized the sound of your vintage truck coming up the drive."

Instead, she was the one to startle him. He'd hadn't noticed her sitting on the temporary steps leading to the semi-repaired front porch.

"OK that I'm here?" He held up a bag and a Thermos. "I brought a peace offering."

"Depends. What's in the Thermos?"

"Orange juice. I know how you crave the Vitamin C."

"That had better be a joke."

He climbed the steps and sat down next to her, handing over the food he'd brought.

She opened the bag. "What's in here?"

"A roast beef sandwich and a couple of brownies. You barely ate any dinner."

"What's rattling?" she wondered, as she put the sack down.

"Aspirin. In case the headache was still around."

She snorted a laugh and shook her head. "Thanks, mom." She tapped against the thermos. "I assume you know me better than to really fill this with orange juice."

"No, it's coffee." He paused, sighing inwardly. "Junkie," he said hopelessly.

"Since that makes you my pusher, I don't think you have room to talk." She petted the thermos fondly. "OK if I keep this for later? Because I stopped and made a purchase before I headed out here." She pulled a six-pack of beer forward. "Stand aside, coffee, this night calls for alcohol."

Luke counted the bottles in the cardboard carrier. "Haven't started drowning your sorrows yet, huh?"

She looked straight ahead and blew out an aggravated breath of air. "Go ahead and tell me I'm still not prepared."

"What are you talking about?"

"I got all the way out here before I realized I don't have a bottle opener. Six bottles of booze and no way to drink them. Why didn't I pick a brand with screw caps?"

Luke smiled to himself. He patted his pockets until he found his knife.

"Swiss-Army knife. I should have known you'd be ready to MacGyver any situation."

"No, just a regular knife, but I think it's got a bottle opener on one of the blades." He found the right one and opened a bottle for each of them.

"Sure, go ahead and help yourself," she chastised him.

"Hey, who brought you coffee? Who made you a sandwich?"

"Oh, all right." She gave in easily.

They each took a drink, looking out at the fireflies blinking across the darkening expanse before them.

Slowly, Lorelai let her body drift towards his until her head was resting against his shoulder. He went perfectly still, not knowing how he should respond to this entirely new situation.

"I'm tired," she finally said in the quietest voice he'd ever heard.

"Yeah, you've got to be." Cautiously, he put his arm around her back, encouraging her to shift more of her weight onto him. "I remember what it was like, when I was trying to get the diner ready to open. I've never worked so hard in my life. And I wasn't at a daytime job, like you are, or driving back and forth every day, like you are. Plus my place was a lot smaller and didn't need to be rebuilt from the ground up. I don't know how you're finding the energy."

"Seems like going from inn to inn should be easier than converting a hardware store into a diner."

"You'd think," he said dryly.

"You weren't working during your renovation?"

"No, I thought it was best to put everything I had into the construction, so I could get it open faster, get the money flowing back in sooner. Or at least, I hoped the diner would make some money."

"Guess it has, since you can afford free meals for your new customers."

"It's done OK. I've learned as I've gone along. Plus, you know I live a pretty frugal lifestyle. Not much I need."

"Huh, I would have never guessed that, what with your allegiance to antique vehicles and all."

He gave her shoulders a small squeeze. "Hey, I love my truck."

"Yeah, I know you do."

"My dad and I worked on fixing it up together, so it's a daily reminder of him. Even if it didn't run great, I'd probably keep it around, just because of the memories."

She glanced up at him with a soft smile. "What would he think of the diner? Do you think he'd approve of the changes you've made?"

Luke thought about his dad's hardware store, and how much of the same feeling he'd been able to incorporate into the diner. "Yeah, I think he would. I don't think it would seem all that different to him, except I'm selling scrambled eggs and burgers instead of nails and plumbing supplies."

"What made you decide to get into slinging hash?"

"Cooking is something that doesn't drive me crazy. Cooking always makes sense. Find a recipe, put this much of one ingredient in, that much of something else, throw in some salt, pepper, cook it for so many minutes, and…ta-da…food." He shrugged. "It's something I don't get tired of doing. And…well, if worse comes to worse, at least I'll never starve."

"Good point." She shifted her position a bit, enough so that she could take a drink from her bottle of beer, but didn't break their physical connection. "You never took lessons though? No culinary school?"

"No, although I did –" He broke off his thought.

"What?"

"Um, we have friends with a restaurant. Old family friends. They run a place not too far from here." He shook his head at his oversight. "I was just thinking that I should take you over there sometime. They'd love you." He glanced down at the top of her head, still snuggled against his shoulder. "I suspect the feeling would be mutual."

"Sure, let's do that during my free time."

He chuckled sympathetically. "Anyway, I got a lot of pointers, and good practical advice from them. I appeared on their doorstep anytime I ran into a problem I couldn't figure out on my own. I owe a lot to them for guiding me along."

"Mentors are always great," she commented despondently

"I wish Mia was still around for you."

She raised her head to look at him. "That's who used to run the Independence?"

He nodded. "Mia was a family friend, too. She and my mom were close. She would have loved to take you under her wing and show you all of the ins and outs of inns."

"Points to you for the cute wordplay, but I doubt that. We'd look like competition to her, even though we're not."

"Mia was always generous, in every way. I don't think she would have seen you as a threat."

Lorelai sighed. "Maybe."

A silence grew between them. Luke could tell that Lorelai continued to stew about something, and he was still uneasy about the new touching part of their relationship. Which she'd initiated. Not that it wasn't nice to hold her. It was. He just wasn't sure how he was supposed to interpret it.

"My life has become…divided," she finally said.

"Oh?"

"Divided…and complicated."

She sat up straighter, which left a cool spot against his side. He removed his arm from behind her back and discovered that he'd grown used to having her pressed against him.

"It's like I have my life, my normal life, in Hartford. I live there, I work there, just like normal. Then, I have my new life here in Stars Hollow, and there's no overlap. Everyone in Hartford thinks I'm crazy to want to open the inn. They tell me that, to my face, every day. The way my parents act, you'd think I was secretly an assassin. They're so ashamed of me that they refuse to tell any of their friends about my plans. Christopher just laughs. He thinks it's another one of my wacky ideas, like backpacking through Europe the summer after high school. My co-workers shake their heads and whisper about me at the water cooler." She turned sideways, the better to see him. "Then I come here, where everyone loves me. Everyone is gung ho about the Dragonfly. Even you – you give me grief about it, but still, you support me. You're out here with me almost every night. You feed me, you bring me coffee." She patted the thermos, sitting on her other side. "I'm just not sure where I belong right now. Here, there…or nowhere."

Not confident about how to respond, Luke stayed quiet.

"And then, tonight…" She sighed. "When you criticized me tonight, about staying at Christopher's, it felt different. It wasn't like all of the grumbling you do about the Dragonfly. It was like you really do think I'm stupid. I guess having you turn on me too felt like the last straw."

"I don't think you're stupid," he demurred.

"Then why the extra-heavy dose of judgment?"

Briefly, he looked up at the stars for guidance. "Is he still in love with you?"

Her head snapped back, startled. "Of course not! At least, not like _that_. Chris and I do love each other, in our own way. That's never going to change, that affection we have for each other."

Luke was glad for the dark. Maybe she wouldn't be able to see how uncomfortable he was. "I'm guessing that you've used – or maybe relied on – that…um… _affection_... in different ways, through the years?"

She frowned at him. "You mean, like the friends with benefits sort of thing?" she asked, without embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah," he muttered.

"Sure, I guess so. We've been on and off, on and off for a lot of years, and if neither of us was with anybody else, we did slip back into the bedroom buddies thing sometimes."

"And that's why I said it could be confusing. Especially if he still has feelings for you."

She was still frowning. "But that's not what last night was about."

"You know that. I'm just wondering if he does."

"Well, he _should!"_ she sputtered, angry again. "Seriously, Luke, are you telling me that if Rachel showed up at your door, desperate for someplace to stay, you'd chase her away?"

That gave him pause. "Well, if it wasn't for the fact that her parents live here…as does her sister…and about 20 of her closest girlfriends…plus the Independence Inn would certainly have rooms available…" He thought for another minute. "If she truly had no place to stay, of course I'd let her stay. But, I'd make sure I went somewhere else."

"Why? You wouldn't trust yourself?" she asked mockingly.

"It's not that," he answered slowly. "For one thing, Stars Hollow is a really small town. You've already seen that. You know how gossip spreads here. I wouldn't want to deal with that. I wouldn't want Rachel to deal with that. And it just seems like if you've already got that shared history, suddenly being together again just makes it puzzling. It seems like it would be easy for your emotions to come back into play, even if there's really no attachment left. To me, it just seems simpler, cleaner, to have a clear division. I mean, even that last night we were together –" He abruptly broke off his sentence.

"What?" She was curious, now.

Luke shrugged. "I just made sure there was a separation, a physical one, between us. We'd just made this huge decision to go our own ways, it didn't seem smart to muddy that up any."

Lorelai sipped at her beer thoughtfully. "OK, I can see what you're saying. I just don't think it has any relevance to us. We've always been pretty laid-back with each other."

"Well, good for you, then. I wasn't trying to pass judgment on you. I was just putting myself in his shoes, I guess. I was thinking maybe he'd see it as a reconciliation attempt on your part."

Lorelai chuckled. "No," she then stated authoritatively.

"You never did tell me. How long were you actually married?"

"I _did_ tell you."

"No, you didn't. You made a joke out of it."

"What's funny is that you think it was a joke."

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me, don't."

"No, it's not that." She fidgeted with the beer bottle, then with her hair, which _was_ curling rapidly in the humid evening air. "I'm just afraid that if I tell you the whole story, you won't like me anymore."

He watched her for a moment. He could tell that whatever happened to end her marriage troubled her a great deal. "Oh, geez!" he suddenly burst out. "You _slept_ with somebody else?"

"I did not!" she denied hotly. "Nice to know you think I have no morals, though."

"I didn't say that. Just from the way you're acting, it seemed like it was something terrible, and that's what leaped to mind," he tried to explain away his strong reaction. "What _did_ happen, then?"

She shook her head, but started talking anyway. "I already told you, I knew on the wedding day that it was a mistake. Everything felt wrong. Everything. I should have walked away…but I couldn't. It was a huge wedding. Everyone was there. My grandmother from London, my aunt from Paris. All of the Haydens. A million business associates from both sides of the aisle." She looked at him beseechingly. "I didn't see how we could stop it at that point."

He nodded, seeing her dilemma.

"Besides, everyone kept saying that jitters were normal, that they'd go away after the ceremony. So I sucked it up and struggled through. I kept thinking that once we got away on our own, we'd be fine. We'd go on the honeymoon, enjoy a couple of weeks in the Italian sunshine, and come home settled into the whole 'Mr. and Mrs.' business."

"Italy," Luke commented. "Nice."

"Yeah, it was. And Chris and I…we do get along. We always have. He's a fun guy, and we had fun, doing the touristy stuff, doing the honeymoon stuff. It was a great vacation." She sighed again. "But then we came home. _Home_ ," she scoffed, repeating the word. "Which meant _his_ home. His house. This big, cold modern thing, with granite counters everywhere, and stainless steel, and nothing but straight lines in every room."

Luke thought about the decorating preferences he'd already observed from her, as she'd set about designing the Dragonfly. "Doesn't exactly sound like your aesthetic."

"Nope."

"Why didn't you find another place to live?"

"Because on paper, it made sense. The house was new, it was in a very desirable community. It would be foolish to step away from it before the equity had built up."

"But you weren't happy there."

"I was miserable. I never felt comfortable. I never felt like I fit there, or that it was mine in any sense of the word. And I _hated_ –" She suddenly clammed up.

"Hated what?" he asked mildly, when several seconds had gone by, and she hadn't continued.

"I hated the feeling that I was trapped there. I hated being _Mrs._ Hayden."

"Wow, OK. That's fairly harsh, Lorelai."

She gave a little grunt of frustration. "I'm not explaining this right. I'm having trouble finding the right words."

Luke smiled. "That's usually my excuse."

"Well, I'm borrowing it tonight. I wasn't used to being a couple." She groaned again. "No, I mean…we'd _been_ a couple. But I never felt this sort of heavy expectation on me, that I had to explain myself all the time, that I had to give this detailed account of what time I'd be home, when we'd eat dinner together. It was like once we were married, we became this dual unit. There wasn't any time just for me anymore."

"Did you talk to him about how you felt?"

"Seriously? _You're_ asking me that?"

"Yeah, never mind," Luke agreed, waving his hand between them.

"So one day – we'd been back almost two weeks – I was walking around downtown during lunch, and I saw that I was in front of this building where a lawyer I knew had his office."

"Oh, Lorelai." Luke just had a sense of where this was going. "You _didn't_."

"Yeah. I did." She sighed heavily. "I thought I'd go in and see if I could talk to him for a couple of minutes, merely out of curiosity. I thought it would be good to know the steps and the processes, just in case. I thought it would help me make a decision down the road, if I knew what would need to happen, and what the consequences would be."

Again, she stopped talking and looked blindly out at the night.

"And?" Luke prodded.

"Someone saw me." She turned to face him. "You say Stars Hollow is a small town, but certain cliques in Hartford operate the same way. Maybe a brother of a secretary was a prep school buddy of Christopher's. Maybe somebody's mother knew mine in the D.A.R. Maybe an acquaintance of my dad's saw me in the elevator. I don't know who figured it out or how it happened, but within days, everyone knew. My parents knew. His parents knew." She swallowed hard. "Christopher knew that I'd been to see a divorce attorney."

"Good God, Lorelai." He couldn't imagine having to face such a thing.

"Yeah, it was awful. He was furious. Heartbroken. My parents were livid. His parents were ready to hire a hitman, I think." She smiled grimly. "Truthfully, that might have been the easier solution."

"That's not funny."

"No, it's not," she said, almost in a whisper. "None of it was funny at all."

Luke reached over and placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a tender squeeze of sympathy. "What happened after that?"

"Oh, about what you'd expect. I packed up and went into hiding at my parents'. Tried to ignore everything that was being said about me. The only good thing was that since the worst had already happened, I went ahead with the divorce." She glanced over at him. "Later, I realized that I apologized for hurting him, I apologized for not talking to him first, but I never apologized for going to see the lawyer. In the end, I wasn't sorry about that."

"No regrets?"

"About the final outcome? No."

"I take it he forgave you, though? I mean, he _did_ let you stay last night." He looked at her soberly. "I don't know that I could be that generous."

"Oh, that's Chris. He was mad and hurt for a while, but he got over it. Once he saw that we could still talk, still be friends, his anger faded. He's always been pretty easy-going. That's his nature. Unfortunately, that also means that sometimes when he should take things seriously, he doesn't do that, either. He likes to take the path of least resistance. Used to drive me nuts sometimes. His mom and dad, too." She shrugged. "But you can't change him."

"Maybe I shouldn't be asking this, but how do you feel about him?"

"You mean, do I love him?"

Luke nodded.

"It's like I said earlier, sure. Always. He's always going to be one of my oldest and dearest friends. But a married, death-do-us-part kind of love? No. That's what's missing."

"Then why did you want to get married?"

"Oh, Luke." She closed her eyes. "Who knows? Maybe I thought I could force it. It just seemed like it was time to give it a try."

"So this was…when? Last fall?"

"Yeah, getting close to a year ago."

"Why are you still living with your folks?"

"I'm not sure, truthfully. Penance?" She turned it over in her mind. "After the wedding fiasco I didn't really feel up to making decisions. It seemed safer to take shelter there." She suddenly chuckled. "Of course, here I am now, making decisions left and right about the Dragonfly. Maybe that's why I'm so confident it's the right move for me, because I haven't had one doubt pop up since I signed the papers. It just feels like this is _exactly_ what I should be doing."

Luke nodded, but didn't speak. He still worried that her interest in the old inn was due to the influence of that other Lorelai, but he had to agree that every choice she'd made concerning it so far had been decisive and well thought-out. Even _he_ was beginning to accept that the Dragonfly was going to be a reality.

Lorelai blew out a breath, as if something had annoyed her again. "And I admit it…while we've been talking, I've been thinking about staying at Christopher's last night. I hate to say it, but I see what you were getting at. Maybe to me, the little bit of time we were married was the anomaly, and our real relationship is all of the years we've been friends, but to him…He could be thinking the opposite. He could be waiting for a sign from me that says we should try again. And if that's the case, my showing up last night was the worst possible thing to do." She glared at Luke and lightly smacked his arm. "Damn it! Why'd you have to get in my head?"

"Hey, don't take it out on the messenger. I can't help it that I'm a guy. I know how guys think. I was just trying to give you a warning, that's all." He drank the last of his beer. "So, uh…where are you going to stay tonight?" he asked hesitantly.

The fake innocence rolled off of her as she batted her eyes at him. "Why Mr. Danes, I thought I'd just stay with you," she said, her voice a sweet/sexy combo.

He knew she was joking. Of course she was joking. But yet…he _was_ a guy, after all, and for a split second his tongue tied itself into knots as conflicting answers fought it out inside his brain.

"Guess that's a no, huh?" she said wryly, observing his struggle.

"Well, I mean…if –"

"Don't sweat it. I'm bunking with Sookie tonight."

Relief and disappointment now became the feelings fighting each other. "That's probably the best solution," he said, too heartily. He took a breath and tried again. "You know we're already being gossiped about, don't you?" That time he sounded too grim.

"Yeah, yeah," Lorelai said airily, as if she didn't care at all. She scrambled to her feet, leaving her empty beer bottle on the step. "Do you want to see if they made any progress inside today?"

"Sure." He got up too, after putting his empty bottle – and hers, too – back into the cardboard container.

A sturdy metal door now protected the Dragonfly's entrance. The original door, with all of its carvings and patina, was in storage, ready to be refurbished and re-hung when the inn reopened. Lorelai had a key to the temporary, albeit more secure door, and she unlocked it now. She reached inside to flick on the lights.

Luke found himself accidentally staring at her backside. "You're a big movie fan, right?"

"Major," she agreed, taking a step inside the entrance. "Why?" she asked, turning around to look at him curiously.

"What's that movie called, the one with Harrison Ford and the woman who was in _Alien_?"

It took Lorelai a minute to process his limited clues. "Are you talking about _Working Girl_? Sigourney Weaver plays Melanie Griffith's evil boss. She breaks her leg in a skiing accident, and then Melanie pretends to be the boss, after she finds out that Sigourney has been stealing all of her good ideas. She ends up with a fancy office _and_ Harrison Ford."

"Yeah, that's it!" Luke nodded in satisfaction.

"What made you think of that?" Lorelai wanted to know.

Before he could stop them, his eyes traveled over the length of her body. "No reason," he bluffed, lying straight to her face.

* * *

It was Saturday afternoon, and Lorelai had been hanging out in the diner for most of it. Luke noticed that she'd been doing calculations in a notebook the last two times he'd been by to refill her coffee. The third time, he stopped to question her.

"What are you trying to figure out?" he asked, nodding towards the pencil markings on the page.

"Trying to see how I can afford to live in Stars Hollow."

"Really?" Her admission surprised him, he didn't think it was anywhere near time for her to consider relocating. "What brought this on?"

"It's so much easier to be here. You know I stayed with Sookie for a couple of nights, and last night she got me a discount rate at the Independence."

"Right," he nodded. He sat down at her table, foreseeing that this conversation might take a while.

"And it's been great! I love not having to make that trip back to Hartford every night. Plus, sometimes Tom has a question for me right away in the morning, and this way I can swing by the Dragonfly on my way into work, if I need to. Living here just makes a lot more sense."

"I seem to recall you telling me that you weren't going to need to be here every day, at least not during the early part of the construction."

She screwed up her face. "Big deal. So I was wrong. Only about that one thing, though," she warned him.

"That we currently know about," he teased her. He pointed at the notebook. "What are the options?"

"Nothing that I can afford," she said unhappily. "I can't stay at the Independence every night, not even at a discount. I can't keep crowding Sookie at her place. What I've been trying to see is how much it would cost to fix up the carriage house first."

"The carriage house? What do you mean?"

"You know, that one building behind the Dragonfly. Frank called it the carriage house. The plan is to make it a self-contained unit and market it as a private getaway for honeymoons or romantic weekends. It hasn't been touched yet, but I thought that maybe if we fixed it up first, I could stay there until the rest of the place is ready to go. It might be the perfect solution."

The idea of her living on her own at the end of that long, dark road every night sent a chill down his spine. He knew, however, that pointing out safety concerns would get him nowhere. "Does that make sense though? To delay the main renovation in order to fix something else? I mean, once the Dragonfly itself is up and running, you could take all the extra time you need to fix up the little building. You'd have some revenue coming in, too, by then, to offset the construction cost."

"Yeah, I know," she agreed moodily. "I'm just trying to grab at any solution."

"You'll figure it out." He stood back up.

"You're sure I just can't stay here with you?" She pointed at the coffee cup, her eyes dancing at him. "Think how convenient that would be!"

"Convenient for you. For me, it wouldn't be convenient at all, because then I'd have to find someplace else to stay."

She looked at him in disappointment. "This would be so much easier if you weren't so darn chivalrous."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm Sir Lancelot." He topped off her cup one more time before stepping away.

"You know what else would be easier? If you had bigger cups. Then you wouldn't have to keep coming back here with refills."

"There's nothing wrong with the cups I've got."

"You need mugs. Big ones." She cupped her hands together, trying to illustrate. "Like bowls! Coffee bowls!"

He snorted. "I don't think so."

"I tell you, Luke, I think you're missing the big picture here. I'm just looking out for you. Trying to save you some steps."

"Uh huh." He continued on to the counter.

"Is it OK that I take up the table longer?" she called after him. For all of her evident self-absorption, she was always considerate of his business.

"Sure, knock yourself out." There were very few customers idling in the diner at that time in the afternoon.

Luke had barely made it behind the counter when the door opened and Babette rushed inside. She made a dash to Lorelai.

" _There_ you are, sugar! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Hi, Babette! What's going on? What to join me?" Lorelai patted at the tabletop.

Babette plopped into the chair next to Lorelai. "What would it take to convince you to move to Stars Hollow?"

Luke spun around and stared at Lorelai. She raised her head and met his eyes, her mouth dropping open in surprise.

Babette looked from one shocked face to the other. "What?" she wanted to know. "Did I say something crazy?"

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** One step at a time, we're getting closer to the Stars Hollow we know and love. Luke and Lorelai are learning more about each others' history. And definitely they're bonding. All good things!

I've finished the next chapter and the one after that is well on the way. This is another story that I am really enjoying writing. I've been bombarded by ideas! Did I give an estimate about how many chapters when I started this one? If I did, I think you should all disregard whatever I said!

Now if Spring would just show up here in real life...

See you at the next chapter!


	6. Saturday Surprises

"So…what do you think?" Luke asked.

He glanced over at Lorelai, and that was the first he became aware that they were leaning up against the side of his truck in almost identical fashion: shoulders back, arms crossed over chests, one leg bent, a raised foot pressed up against a tire.

Lorelai cocked her head, still staring at the house before them, the dull beige and brown one, the one next door to Babette's.

"It doesn't really match up, does it?"

"Match up? Huh?"

"I mean, look at it from out here." Lorelai tilted her head the other way, as if still trying to make things fit. "It looks big, right? An old-fashioned, two-story house."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, but warily, not sure what she was getting at.

"But then, you get inside, and…it's not." She brought her head upright and frowned. "How can that be? How can you have that much square footage on the bottom floor and only a bedroom and a bathroom on the top?"

"Don't know. That surprised me too." He scanned the structure of the house again, as if he could find a hidden room or two. "It definitely looks like it should be bigger than it is."

"Oh my God, that's it!" She sprang away from the truck, snapping her fingers. "It's a reverse TARDIS!"

"A what?"

"Oh, come on. You know _Twilight Zone_ and everything else, but never watched _Doctor Who_? What kind of sci-fi geek are you?"

"Not a British one," he grumbled. "OK, I guess I know what you're getting at."

"Because with the TARDIS, it's always bigger –"

"On the inside. Yeah, I get it."

"Maybe that's why it's not blue. Don't you think the house would look better if it was blue?"

"I think color is not an important part of the decision. What do you think about renting the place?"

Lorelai sighed sadly at his lack of comprehension. "Color is always an important part of _any_ decision, Luke."

"Then it's a no?"

"I didn't say that." She looked critically at the house again. "I guess if I'm only living here temporarily, while the dad who lives here uproots his family so he can teach at Berkeley for a couple of semesters, I can close my eyes and put up with the blandness. The price is right – in fact, it's a downright steal compared to Hartford rentals – and it _would_ solve my housing problem."

"So it's a yes."

"I didn't say that either."

Luke was getting frustrated. "So what _are_ you saying?"

"I'm saying that I need a cup of coffee and more time to think it over."

He sighed loudly. "Fine. Get in the truck."

"Man, you're bossy." She swished her hips in an exaggerated fashion as she took her sweet time walking the few steps to the passenger side of the truck. "Weren't you the same guy warning me not to make a split-second decision about the Dragonfly?"

He scowled as he fired up the truck. "Two different things."

"But both major decisions. Why the rush on this one?"

"I'm not trying to rush you." He glanced at the mirrors before beginning to drive down the street. "You were complaining about finding someplace to live, and this solution basically fell into your lap. You said the price is good, and sure – it's only two bedrooms, but how much room do you need? Plus, you'll be living next door to Babette." Luke smirked. "That's got to be worth something, right?"

"I know," she said gloomily. "It's just…it doesn't _feel_ like me."

"But it's _temporary_ ," Luke argued. "And once you get your stuff moved in, your pictures up on the wall, it'll become your place."

"I suppose," she muttered, but then looked at him speculatively. "Sounds like somebody's really anxious to get me here in Stars Hollow full time." She leaned over and gave his arm a playful push.

For a moment or two he couldn't even process what she was talking about. Then he tried to backtrack. "I'm just going along with what you said earlier, that your life would be easier if you were living here in town. It makes no difference to me."

"Are you sure?" She twirled a piece of hair and looked at him flirtatiously. "I can see how having more Lorelai in your life would be a very desirable happening."

"Oh, brother," he sighed. "Having more you is going to wear out my coffee maker, that's the main thing that's going to happen."

She laughed at that and let the topic drop, for which he was grateful.

Back at the diner, they both went inside, and Lorelai returned to her table and the mess of notebooks and home improvement magazines she'd left there. "Luke, you're going to refill this, right?" She shook her empty coffee cup at him.

"Of course I am," he replied in resignation. He let Caesar know he was back, washed his hands, and checked in with the other diners before ending up at Lorelai's table with the coffee pot.

"So who's that?" she asked quietly, as he filled up her cup.

He quickly looked around the diner, but had no idea who she meant. "Who?"

"The skinny gal sitting next to the cash register." Lorelai casually took a sip of coffee. "The one currently shooting daggers at me with her eyes."

Luke instantly turned his head.

" _Don't look!"_ Lorelai hissed at him.

He ignored her warning and looked anyway. "Do you mean Nicole?" he asked when he turned back.

"Nicole, hmm? And who exactly is Nicole?"

He shrugged. "Nicole who sometimes comes into the diner."

Lorelai sat down the cup and looked at him frankly. "Nicole who has a crush on you."

"She does not!" Luke protested, rolling his eyes.

Under cover of taking another sip of coffee, Lorelai glanced her way again. "Uh, yeah, she does."

"Just for the sake of argument, why would you even think that?"

"Because she wants me dead. Now."

Luke, not trying to be subtle, turned and looked directly at Nicole, who was indeed glaring at Lorelai. When she saw Luke watching her, she instantly faced forward on her stool, retrieved her fork, and tried to appear innocent while picking at her salad.

Puzzled, Luke once again looked at Lorelai. "But why…?" He didn't even bother finishing the question.

"Tell me about her," Lorelai urged. "She lives in Stars Hollow?"

"No, she just comes in to see Taylor every now and then, and then she stops by here for some coffee or something to eat."

"Why would any sane person come to see Taylor?"

"Probably because she has papers for him to sign, or something."

"Papers?"

"Yeah, she's his lawyer, or one of his lawyers, I guess."

Lorelai's eyes went wide. "Holy cow, she's _the_ lawyer, isn't she?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You said you talked to a lawyer about Rachel, and _she_ recommended a negotiator instead. It's her, isn't it?"

"Well…yeah," Luke admitted, nevertheless bewildered.

Lorelai's chuckle had a tone of superiority. "Let me guess. Once she found out that you and Rachel were over, she suddenly started stopping by the diner more?"

He glanced over towards the cash register again, blankly. "Um…maybe?"

"Luke, think about it. It's Saturday. She's really here on a Saturday because of legal stuff with Taylor?"

He began to see Lorelai's point. Panic began to rise in him, which Lorelai must have observed.

"OK, OK, calm down. Are you really this naïve about how the whole guy/gal thing works?"

"It's been a while since I've had to worry about it," he muttered.

Lorelai sighed. "No problem. Let's just cut to the chase. Are you interested?"

His brain still hadn't quite caught up. "In her?"

"Yes, Luke, in her. In Nicole. Are you interested in getting to know her better? Do you want to go out on a date with her?"

"God, no!" he said, horrified.

"You're sure?"

"Positive," he stated firmly.

"Then I can take care of this for you."

Before he could even wonder what she meant, Lorelai partially rose from her seat. She flung her arm around his neck, reeled him in closer to her, and then placed a warm, lingering kiss against his cheek. "Thanks, babe," she said affectionately, loud enough for the entire diner to hear. "I'll have to show you just how appreciative I am later on," she promised teasingly. She shot him one of her sultry smiles before releasing him.

For several seconds, Luke just stood there, dumbfounded. He knew he was angry, but he wasn't sure who deserved the brunt of his anger: Lorelai, for the stunt she'd just pulled, which would surely be town gossip fodder in under an hour; Nicole, who'd apparently been using him for the fool he was; or himself, for allowing this whole farce to play out in his diner. Not trusting himself to speak, he slammed the coffee pot down on Lorelai's table and then stomped off to the storeroom in the back of the building to give himself a cooling-off period.

When he finally returned, Lorelai was perched on a stool at the counter, next to where Nicole had been sitting, sipping at her cup of coffee. Nicole was nowhere to be seen, and her place had been cleared. The coffee pot he'd left at Lorelai's table was back under the spout at the coffee maker, filled with freshly brewed java.

More in control, but still angry, Luke pointed at the cleared countertop and the replenished coffee pot. "You working here, too?" he demanded scathingly.

Lorelai held up her hands. "I wouldn't dream of crossing the line into the sacred employee space. No, Caesar came out and took care of things."

He stood there and glared at her, while trying to decide what to yell about first.

"I did talk to Nicole, though," she said, beating him to the punch.

"You did _what?!"_ he yelped.

For once, she was subdued. "Luke, for what it's worth, I am sorry. I'm sort of known for leaping without looking, and I think I misread the signals here. I sincerely thought I was doing you a favor. So I came over and introduced myself to Nicole – who mysteriously already knew who I was, by the way –"

"Ah geez," he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead. He briefly wondered if he was stroking out.

"Anyway, I told her that the world of dating wasn't something you were ready for yet, and that maybe she should cool her jets for a month or so, to let you get used to the idea."

He'd been glaring at her for so long, he was pretty sure it had lost all meaning. "Please – just stop talking. Every word you say makes it worse."

She shook her head. "No, I fixed it," she insisted stubbornly. "Look, by the next time she comes in, you'll have more of a handle on how you really feel. If you're interested, you can apologize again for me and ask her out. If you're sincerely _not_ interested, then just be honest and tell her that. Or tell her that you still need more time, or something. But this way, I haven't ruined anything for you. She's still an option."

"I don't _want_ options," Luke said icily.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Of course you do."

"No, I –" Before he could refute her further, the door to the diner opened and took away his focus. "Wow," he murmured to her instead, still staring at the couple entering his establishment. "Looks like Miss Patty caught a live one." He scoffed. "If we want to talk about someone who's comfortable in the _dating world_ and all."

Curious, Lorelai glanced behind her, to see who Miss Patty was with.

" _Dad?"_ she cried out, almost falling off her stool.

"Lorelai!" The well-dressed, extremely tall man rushed up to the counter. Luke assumed he was going to hug her, but at the last moment he seemed to rein himself in and settled for a restrained pat to her shoulder instead.

"See, Richard, I told you she'd be here!" Patty proclaimed proudly. She pulled out a chair and sat down, obviously meaning to watch what happened next.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked, noticeably bewildered.

"Lorelai, you haven't been home for days. You won't answer our phone calls. And that insufferable secretary of yours –"

"Administrative assistant," Lorelai inserted automatically.

"- goodness knows if she even gives you the messages, she's so tight-lipped. Your mother and I were worried about you." Lorelai's father looked her up and down, and the tense look on his face eased somewhat. "You're well?" he asked, his tone becoming much gentler.

"Of course, Dad, I'm fine." Lorelai was beginning to look less baffled. She glanced down at her spot at the counter. "Do you want a cup of coffee?"

Richard seemed to finally become aware of something besides Lorelai. He looked around curiously. "Yes, a cup of coffee would certainly be welcome."

Luke nodded at Lorelai, letting her know that he understood the order.

"Oh, Luke, wait!" Lorelai called him back. "Dad, this is Luke Danes. He owns this place and is the maker of the most amazing coffee you'll ever have the pleasure to guzzle. Luke, in case you haven't already guessed, this is my father, Richard Gilmore."

Luke squelched his residual anger at Lorelai and reached across the counter to shake Mr. Gilmore's hand. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Ah, the famous Luke," Richard said, returning the handshake. He perused Luke with a critical eye. "I guess I should have known I'd find her here."

"Pardon me?" Luke questioned, not understanding.

"Come on, Daddy, let's sit over here," Lorelai said quickly, taking her father's arm.

Richard stopped at Patty's table. "Thank you so much for directing me here, Miss LaCosta. Your immediate kindness to a stranger in your town was much appreciated."

"Anytime, handsome," Miss Patty assured him. "Drop by my studio to say hello the next time you come to visit Lorelai. Don't forget my offer about the private dance lessons."

"Well…yes, thank you, but my wife has already taught me everything I need to know about dancing," Richard said with a knowing smile.

"Here, Dad, this is my table," Lorelai said, pulling him away. She turned and waved a warning finger at Patty, who just grinned unapologetically back at her.

Luke filled a cup for Richard, topped off Lorelai's cup, and took them both over to their table. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked, being polite in front of her father. Because most definitely, he was still mad at her.

"Hmm, possibly." Richard looked around with more interest. "Lorelai, what would you recommend?"

"You can't go wrong with a burger, if you ask me."

"Very well, one hamburger if you please, Luke."

"Do you want cheese on it? Any fries?"

"No, my wife would kill me if she even knew about the burger."

"It'll be our secret, then," Luke agreed, and started for the kitchen, but Patty stopped him.

"Bring me an iced tea, would you, handsome?"

"I thought he was 'handsome,'" Luke told her, being only slightly sarcastic.

Patty shrugged. "Fits you both. It's a multi-use nickname." She looked at him mischievously. "If you want, I'm sure I could _easily_ find another one that could be yours alone."

"Forget it," Luke sighed, and went to work in the kitchen.

When he brought out the sandwich to Richard, he noticed that the conversation between father and daughter seemed stilted. Soon, however, as the hamburger quickly disappeared, their heads got closer together and Lorelai began showing him pages from her notebook. In another ten minutes, she came up to the cash register to pay.

"Thanks for being so nice," she murmured to him, holding out some bills. "In spite of before."

He dipped his head noncommittally, then pushed back some of her money. "It's your dad's first visit."

"No, I'm paying for everything, to make up for our misunderstanding," she insisted.

"You know the rules."

"Fine. I'll just leave it as a tip, then."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Does the stubbornness come from your dad or your mom?"

"Both," she said pertly, suddenly shooting him a smile. "And you're a fine one to talk about stubbornness." She discreetly glanced behind her. "I'm taking Dad out to see the Dragonfly," she confided to him, nervously.

"Oh? Well, good. I'm sure he'll enjoy seeing it."

"I just hope he gets why I'm doing it." She smiled, but it looked strained. "Thanks for mellowing him out with the burger and coffee."

"That's why they call me Mr. Mellow," Luke said dryly.

Her smile flashed again. "Huh, here I heard it was 'Handsome.'"

She went back to the table and gathered her stuff. He sighed, watching her tuck the refused money under her coffee cup.

"Luke, I look forward to treating myself to more items from your menu," Richard called to him as he and Lorelai walked to the door. "My daughter is correct, however – you can't go wrong with the burger."

* * *

 _Luke's_ was full of dinner patrons by the time Lorelai appeared again. She looked stunned as she dodged her way up to the counter.

"Everything OK?" he asked, automatically filling a cup of coffee for her.

She stared at the cup as if she'd never seen the black liquid before. "You have anything stronger?"

"That bad?" he winced.

"No, it was…" She breathed in deeply, then shook her head, as if coming back to reality. "It went…better than I expected, truthfully."

"So it was good, then." He wanted to listen to her, but he also had a full dining room of hungry, impatient people.

Lorelai finally took a sip of coffee, and a little bit of color came back into her cheeks. "He grilled me relentlessly, about everything. Tom happened to be there today, so he grilled Tom, too – until I thought Tom was going to throttle him."

Luke winced again. "Yeah, Tom doesn't take kindly to grilling."

"Tell me about it." She shook her head again. "I showed him everything on site, plus the original blueprints, and our renovation plans. I showed him the cost projections, the revenue projections. He wanted to see everything, but he barely made one comment. Finally he said he needed to get home, so I drove him back here to his car. Still very little talking from him on the drive, as if he was deep in thought. Then, just as he got into his car, he reached into his wallet and handed this to me." From a pocket in her jeans, she pulled out a small, rectangular piece of paper. She unfolded it, and smoothed it out on the counter.

The more Luke looked at the check displayed on the counter, the more he understood the stunned look on Lorelai's face. There was a seven, plus four zeroes.

"Holy crap, Lorelai." He quickly glanced around the diner and then pushed the check back at her. "Put this away!"

She did as he suggested, without comment. That was when he knew for sure that she was in shock.

"Look, just sit here for a minute. Drink your coffee. Take some deep breaths. I'll be back to check on you as soon as I can, OK?"

Her head jerked up. "Check," she muttered, staring blindly at him.

"I'll be right back," he promised again, and rushed off to take care of his other customers.

By the time he returned, she'd emptied the cup and no longer seemed to be frozen in astonishment. "Doing better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so." She rubbed her fingers across her forehead. "I'm just having a hard time reconciling it, going from my father's disdain to this huge check of…of acceptance, I guess."

"Did he have an explanation for doing this?"

"Um, yeah." She ran her fingers through her slightly curly hair. "Dad says that he made an investment in my name, on the day I was born. He bought some sort of property."

"Is that a rich people thing?" he asked, trying to tease her a little bit, to get her back to her usual self.

"Not that I was aware of. I thought the usual thing was an engraved silver sippy cup."

"Well, this sounds better," Luke said wryly.

"Yeah." Lorelai chuckled a bit. "Way better." She started to raise her coffee cup, but then saw it was empty. "Anyway, the property recently sold, and this is the profit from it. Dad says it's mine. Legally, it's mine. He _has_ to give it to me, he said."

"Do you buy that?" Luke asked skeptically.

"Well, knowing my dad…yeah, I think I do. I can't imagine him lying about such a thing. Plus, he knows I could easily follow up on it, so…yeah. I think it's legit."

"Wow," Luke said, barely able to wrap his head around such a windfall. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Well, put it towards the Dragonfly, of course. It should help a lot." She pulled the check back out of her pocket and looked at it again. "And…I guess I'm moving to Stars Hollow. The rent on the place next to Babette's will only use up the teensiest part of this."

Luke frowned, sensing trouble coming down the road. "Does he know that's what you'll do with the money? Use it so you don't have to live in Hartford anymore?"

She met his eyes. "I'm pretty sure he does. The only thing he insisted on was that I don't tell my mother anything about it."

Luke gave a low whistle. "That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

Lorelai looked at him grimly. "Oh, trust me, it is. If you ever meet my mother, then you'll understand exactly how massive that disaster would be."

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Crap Shack...check! One more thing falling into alignment in our alternative world! Nicole...gone! Hee, that's one thing better than the original version! Let's see what we can make right in the next chapter. Huge thanks to you readers who continue to support this story. When I began writing it, I wasn't sure if anyone would be willing to go along with this alt version of our favorite couple or not. I love that this is a fresh start for them, that they get to begin their friendship without those 8 years of baggage coloring their perceptions, and that a lot of their mistakes are already over and done with, and aren't a source of angst between them. Well, you know, except for that other Lorelai hanging over their heads...See you at the next chapter!


	7. Dating Across the Universe

In the middle of the next week, Lorelai entered the diner and immediately took a seat at the counter, which seemed to be her usual habit now. Sitting at the counter made it easier for them to talk.

"Guess what I'm doing on Saturday night?" she asked cheerfully, lifting the strap of her shoulder bag off over her head. She tossed the bag onto the stool next to her, then smoothed down her slightly curly hair.

"How should I know?" Luke shrugged.

"Well, guess!" she insisted.

"I dunno. Sleeping?" he suggested.

She imitated a gameshow buzzer. "Wrong! Try again."

"Moving?"

"Nope, still got some time before my lease starts. Try again!"

"Lorelai, I honestly don't –" He cut himself off, knowing that reasoning with her was a lost cause. "You've got to go to one of your mom's parties."

"Wrong again, bucko! Three strikes and you're out!" She grinned at him.

"Apparently you just need to straight-out tell me, which you could have done as soon as you sat down, which would have saved us each five minutes out of our respective lives."

She giggled, then spread her hands flat on the counter, beaming at him. "I'm going on a double-date with Sookie!" she announced.

Her words seemed to hit something vulnerable inside of him, and for a second or two he had trouble breathing, let alone talking. When he was able, he discarded the obvious question, and instead asked, "Sookie's dating someone?"

Lorelai still looked absolutely delighted. "She will be, on Saturday night!"

"Wait. I'm confused. I thought you said –"

"Hey, Luke, do you know Jackson?" she asked, interrupting him. His confusion increased.

"Someday you're going to finally learn that everyone in Stars Hollow knows everyone," he reminded her, deciding to ignore her abrupt change of topic.

"So you do know him."

"You mean Jackson Belleville, right? The vegetable guy?"

"Yes!" Once again, Lorelai was positively beaming. "Would you say that you're friends?"

"Well…'friends' might be putting it a little strong. I know him, sure. Sometimes I buy produce from him, and I suppose there's been a time or two when we've stood together after a town meeting, bad-mouthing Taylor. Probably we've sat next to each other at the bar in K.C.'s a couple of nights, nursing a beer or something."

"Excellent!" Lorelai could not have looked more pleased, but then she turned curious. "What's K.C.'s?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "A bar."

"Here? In Stars Hollow?"

"Yes. It's a block on the other side of the square."

"Cool, cool." She steepled her hands on the counter, then leaned over them, closer to him, as if she had a deal to make. "So, Luke. Theoretically, then, it wouldn't be at all strange for you to invite Jackson to share a beer with you at K.C.'s on Saturday night, right?"

He had the sudden sensation of stepping into a trap. "No," he said emphatically, instinctively knowing that a negative answer was the best one.

"Come on, Luke, it will be great!" Her blinding, persuasive smile focused on him. "Look, you'll be there at – Oh, say, 8 o'clock on Saturday night, having a friendly beer with Jackson, and then – Wow, what a surprise! Sookie and I come in. And we'll be all 'Hey, guys! Didn't expect to see you two here!' and then you – being the gentleman you are – will invite us to share your table." She nodded, visibly pleased with her plan.

"No," he said again, even more forcefully.

"Luke, yes! It's perfect!"

"Forget it, Lorelai. I'm not getting stuck in the middle of some harebrained matchmaking plot you've cooked up."

"It's not harebrained!" She leaned closer to him again, ready to impart a secret. "Sookie _likes_ Jackson."

"She _likes_ him?" he sneered. "What, we're back in junior high or something?"

Lorelai went on as if he hadn't spoken at all. "And…Jackson _likes_ her!"

"Sounds like they can handle the rest on their own, then."

Lorelai sat back and sighed, finally losing some of her sparkle. "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, that is not the case at all. I don't know if they're too shy, or oblivious –"

"Or just want to mind their own damn business," Luke muttered.

"– but they just can't seem to grasp that there's soul mate potential between them." She shot him her best pleading look. "Please, Luke, help me get these two lovelorn kids together, what do you say?"

He sighed. "What makes you think they like each other?" he asked, dropping his defenses, as well as the sneering tone.

"Because if you spend any time with the two of them at all, it's obvious. Plus, Sookie admitted it to me, after I called her on it. And Jackson's just as bad. Both of them turn into these stuttering, blushing, clumsy oafs if they're within a couple of yards of each other." Lorelai slumped on her stool. "Last week, I thought I'd help things along by asking Jackson to come out to the Dragonfly under the pretense of needing advice about where we could plant a vegetable garden. Oh my God, it was like the Marx brothers had invaded the place. Sookie nearly set her hair on fire, and I thought Jackson was going to lose a toe to a garden spade. I would have laughed, if I'd had time. Instead, I was constantly putting out flames – literally – and trying to keep both of them upright and not suffering profuse blood loss while under my watch."

Luke couldn't help it, he smiled. He could almost picture it, the way she described it.

"Anyway, both of them made overtures to the other, but every attempt sailed right over the head of the intended target. Jackson would say something about eating, which obviously meant the two of them, eating together –"

" _Obviously_ ," Luke felt duty-bound to emphasize, still doubtful.

"…and Sookie kept asking him if he'd like to meet her sometime, to discuss crop rotations, or asparagus yields, or something appropriately farm-like, but the hints just didn't connect. Later, after he left – still in one piece, I'm glad to say – I tried to point out to Sookie exactly what his words meant, but she didn't believe me. She thinks he doesn't like her enough to actually ask her out."

"That could be the case."

"No, it's not. I've seen the way he looks at her, Luke. I know he's pining away for her."

"Pining. Right," he said, smirking.

"Oh, you! Stop picking on my choice of words." She took a deep breath and exhaled, forcefully. "Will you help or not?"

He decided to put her on the spot a bit. "I'm still a little confused. Where's this double-date thing come in?"

"OK, so maybe I oversold it a bit, in order to get your attention. I just thought they'd both feel more at ease if they were in a group. If they're awkward about being together at all, we can keep the conversation going until they feel ready to join in."

" _You_ can keep the conversation going," he corrected her.

She immediately jumped on what he'd just said. "You'll do it?" she cried joyfully.

Luke sighed and folded his arms across his chest, considering. "Under these conditions. I'll do my best to get Jackson there on Saturday night. I'll convince him I owe him a beer for some reason. If you and Sookie want to show up at K.C.'s – well, that's your prerogative. However, if I see that Jackson is not as pleased with the situation as you think he'll be, I _will_ provide him with some valid reason to leave. How's that?"

The smile left her face as she seriously considered his terms. "I believe we have a deal." She thrust her hand out over the counter, and he gave it a shake. "You won't be sorry," she promised him.

"I'm already sorry," he grumbled, mostly for her sake.

"Whew! That was one hard negotiation!" She settled herself on her seat. "I feel like I need some manly food now, like raw steak or beef jerky or pork rinds or something."

"The best I can do is meatloaf with ketchup."

"Bring it on!" Lorelai said, smiling brightly once again. She smacked the counter in front of her. "Don't forget the mashed potatoes, either, buddy!"

* * *

Setting up his part of the 'date' proved easier than Luke feared it might be. Jackson came in for a late breakfast on Thursday, and Luke took a few extra minutes to chat with him each time he passed by the table. He'd forgotten that Jackson held the same glum, largely sarcastic view of life as he did, and chatting with him wasn't an ordeal at all. In fact, he began to wonder why they _weren't_ better friends.

Speaking in the broad generalities of guys everywhere, 'Hey, how about those (insert name of team here),' he found out that although Jackson wasn't a big baseball fan, he was paying more attention now that playoffs were starting. One more stop by the table to refill his water glass, and the agreement to meet at K.C.'s on Saturday night to watch the game was settled.

Thursday night, when Lorelai hopped up on her usual stool at the counter, he poured her coffee and then gave her a discreet thumb's up. "We're good," he told her solemnly.

She paused while raising her cup. "For…?"

He rolled his eye at her. "Saturday night, what else?"

"Oh!" Her eyes began to sparkle. "It's set? You talked to Jackson?"

"Yep, all set. We'll be there."

"And he doesn't suspect?"

"No. Why would he?"

"I don't know. I don't know how smooth you are at this type of thing. Maybe you dropped hint after hint and winked at him about a dozen times, and now he knows there's something up."

"Oh yeah, that's totally my style. He probably caught on when I poked him in the ribs. Not that arranging blind dates is something I do on a regular basis – or ever, truthfully."

"What! You're a blind-date virgin?" She shook her head at him in disappointment. "If I would have known that, I never would have trusted you with this critical set-up."

"Don't worry, I think I got it covered, in spite of my inexperience."

"Hmm, we'll see," she said primly. She took another sip of coffee, then smiled as she sat the cup down. "Thanks for doing this, Luke. Sookie's excited enough the way it is, just because the two of us are going out on Saturday night. I told her we deserved a night of fun, after all the hard work we've been doing."

"Well, that much is true," he agreed.

"I know you don't think the blind date idea is a good one, but Sookie is such a sweetie. She deserves some real happiness and a little romance in her life." She tilted her head and smiled softly at him. "Everyone does, don't you think?"

"Sure," he said without thought, because he was a little mesmerized by that smile, and also, he didn't want to ruin her mood.

"I owe you big time for this." She stared at him for a minute, before snapping her fingers. "I know – I'll cover your drinks."

"You will not," he scoffed.

"Why not?"

"Because…I don't know why. I'll buy my own drinks, thank you."

"What difference does it make? It's not like this is a real date, and you're taking me out or something. Why can't I treat you?"

"Oh, all right," he grumbled. "One drink, Lorelai. One."

"Fine," she said, grinning. "So what are you feeding me tonight?"

"In the mood for chicken and noodles?"

"Like you read my mind," she said.

"Comes with a salad," he warned her.

She wrinkled her nose. "Maybe we can barter another round of drinks, and _you_ can eat the salad?"

"That's not the way it works," he told her, and went to the kitchen to try and find a vegetable that she _would_ eat.

* * *

On Saturday night, Luke was the first of the potential quartet to arrive at K.C.'s. He went to the bar, greeted Hank Ferguson, the bartender, and ordered a pitcher of beer. He nearly blew the surprise portion of the night by asking for four glasses to go with it, but remembered the objective at the last second and got two, instead. Then he grabbed a table and sat so that he could see the TV. No matter how the rest of the night went, he planned on being able to watch the game.

About ten minutes later, Jackson walked in. He waved at Luke and quickly joined him at the table. Luke poured him a beer and Jackson saluted him with his glass.

Jackson looked around the bar, which was beginning to fill up, and then nodded happily at Luke. "You know, this is nice. I don't know why I don't try to do stuff like this more often."

"Force of habit, I suppose," Luke speculated. "And if you're anything like me, once I get the diner closed up for the night, the last thing I want to do is go out again."

"Yeah, I second that." Jackson took a swallow of beer. "For me, my busy season is reaching the end. I've still got gourds and pumpkins to harvest, some squash, but from here on out, it's mostly just putting the gardens to bed and moving inside, concentrating on the greenhouses. But during the spring and summer seasons, it's hard to find the energy to socialize much."

Luke chuckled agreeably. "That's how I feel, no matter what the season."

Jackson swirled the beer around in his glass, thoughtfully. "Maybe I heard wrong, but I thought you _had_ been leaving the diner at night. Haven't you been going over to the Dragonfly most evenings?"

Luke groaned inwardly. Trust the busybodies to be watching his every move.

"Well, Lorelai comes into town just about every night, and she usually stops at the diner for dinner. After she eats, she heads out to the Dragonfly to see if anything got done that day, and a lot of times I _do_ go along with her, I guess. I've always been interested in poking around building sites. It's fun to see what changes from day to day."

"Oh, so Lorelai wants you to go out there with her? So that you can sort of make sure everything's being done the way it should be?"

Luke snorted. "Geez, don't ever let Lorelai hear you say something like that! No, she's perfectly capable of keeping everything on track with the construction, and that includes Tom and his whole crew. I guess I'd mention it to her if I _did_ spot something wrong, but so far that hasn't happened."

"So…you go out there…just for fun?" Jackson's question seemed to be based on serious interest rather than mocking, if Luke was reading him right.

"Well, I –" Luke cut off his words abruptly and quickly looked around the bar. "Can I tell you something, that stays just between us?"

"No," Jackson said immediately.

"You see, I –" Jackson's reply finally caught up with Luke. "Wait, what?"

"Don't ever tell me secrets. I'm the worst when it comes to keeping stuff to myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah, afraid so. Don't ever trust me with something you don't want the town to know. I don't mean to let things out, it just kind of happens." Jackson paused. "Huh, maybe that's why I don't have a group of friends to hang out with."

Luke gave him a look of disbelief, then sighed and proceeded anyway. "What if the only person you can't tell is Lorelai? Well, and Sookie, too, I guess." It might have just been the lighting in the bar, but Jackson's face seemed ruddier at the mention of Sookie's name.

"Yeah, I think I can do that," he agreed, after a brief moment of contemplation.

"OK, then." Luke inclined his head a little bit Jackson's way. "You've been out there, right? Lorelai said she had you come out like a week ago, to talk about planting a vegetable garden for them?"

He nodded, and again his face seemed to flush. "They've got some good soil out there. With a little fertilizer and some care, they should have all of the spinach and lettuce and zucchini they can use. Sookie really wants an herb garden by the kitchen, too."

"Great, so you know where the place is located. It's pretty desolate out there during the day, let alone at night. Can you imagine how dark and isolated it is back there after the sun goes down?"

After a moment of reflection, Jackson's eyes went wide. "Man, I never thought of that! So you go along to make sure she's safe?"

"Yes, but Lorelai would absolutely kill me if she knew that. That's why you've got to keep it to yourself."

"Sookie goes over there too, at night?"

"Not usually. She normally has to work until pretty late at the Independence, but yeah, sometimes she shows up too."

"Thank you." Jackson suddenly thrust out his hand for a shake. "Seriously, Luke, thanks for looking out for them like that. If you ever get stuck late at the diner and need back-up, I'm your man. I'll come up with some reason why I decided to drive out that way."

"Thanks." Luke met the handshake. "For all of her big city ways, Lorelai can be awfully naïve about certain things."

Jackson nodded. "And Sookie's just…" He raised his hands over his head and thrashed them about madly.

"Yeah." Luke chuckled in agreement.

"This is one secret that will be safe with me," Jackson promised.

"It had better be. I have no desire to be skinned alive."

They drank a bit and watched the game for a couple of minutes, comparing notes about some of the players.

Then the door opened, and the girls walked in.

Well, Luke assumed that Sookie was there too, but truthfully, he only had eyes for Lorelai.

He'd seen her almost every day for months now, but she'd always been in work clothes. Jeans and t-shirts, for Dragonfly work, or dark business suits for her daytime job. But until this minute, he'd never seen her in date clothes. Clothes that had one purpose, and one purpose only, which was to make her look even prettier than she normally did. Sexy clothes. Clothes worn to turn heads.

Her skirt was short and gray, and the hem did some sort of playful flipping motion against her thighs each time she took a step. She wore a sweater that was the color of a ripe plum, which swooped at the neckline to show off her collarbones and bare shoulders. Lipstick, several shades lighter than the sweater, emphasized her laughing mouth. Her long dark hair was loose tonight, and brushed against her shoulders as she moved. Dangly silver earrings peeked out occasionally from behind a curl. If her objective was to be breath-taking, she'd succeeded by about a thousand percent.

"Luke?" Jackson said, sounding a little worried. That was when Luke realized he was standing up, staring at the vision entering the bar. Not trusting himself to speak, he motioned with his head.

Jackson turned slightly in his seat and immediately spotted them as well. He too jumped to his feet. "Girls, hi! What a surprise to see you here!"

They walked up to the table and Lorelai gave Luke a disappointed look. He smiled, because he could tell what she was thinking. _That was supposed to be my line!_

Before Luke could get them back on script, Jackson beat him to the punch again. "You ladies are welcome to join us, if you want. It's starting to get a little crowded in here." He glanced at Luke. "OK with you?"

"Sure, if you want to," Luke said casually. He ignored Lorelai's look of pretend outrage as yet another line of their prepared dialogue was hijacked.

Jackson grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table and placed it next to his own. He motioned for Sookie to have a seat.

"Thanks," Sookie murmured, looking down. She nervously pushed her hair back behind her ears. Her cheeks seemed extra-rosy, at least to Luke's eyes.

He pulled out the chair next to him, for Lorelai. She sat down with a little flounce, as if she was still slightly miffed that the evening wasn't going exactly according to her plan. Her flounce caused the swoop of her neckline to dip a little further south, and Luke trained his eyes back to the TV screen.

"So this is the Saturday night hot spot in Stars Hollow, huh?" she asked, sounding a little bit condescending.

"No, Taylor won't allow a genuine hot spot," Jackson told her, grinning. "At most, this is the medium-warm spot, but it's all we've got."

"Lukewarm?" Lorelai suggested, looking pointedly at Luke.

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before," he muttered, keeping his focus on the wall-mounted TV.

"What'cha watching?" she asked, turning so she could see the screen.

"Baseball," he answered, not feeling like giving a longer answer.

She bit her lip prettily. "That's the one with the little white ball, right?"

He stared at her hard, not able to tell if she was joking or not.

"No, Lorelai," Sookie said. "You're thinking of golf." She smiled broadly.

"Ah, right. Right," Lorelai said, nodding her head in agreement. "I always get them confused." She twisted around again in her seat. "This is the one where all of the cute guys wear the tight white pants." She watched for a few more seconds, before leaning over to tap Luke's hand. "Maybe we should change places so that I can see better."

"Nope."

"Then in that case, I'm going to go get a drink." She stood up.

Luke snapped to attention, troubled that in his attempt to appear indifferent to her matchmaking plans, he seemed rude instead. "We've got a pitcher right here, if you'd like a beer. I'll go grab more glasses."

"Nuh-uh. If I've got a night off to party, I want something with more punch to it."

"Don't ever drink the punch!" Jackson inserted a quick warning.

"What?" Lorelai wondered.

"Never mind," Sookie assured her, giggling at Jackson. "We'll explain that to you later."

She looked from one to the other of them before shrugging her shoulders. The shrug made the sweater dip again. "Whatever. I'm going to get a Long Island iced tea. Sookie, what would you like?"

"A Rob Roy. No! A Sidecar. No, wait – an Old-Fashioned!"

Bemused, Lorelai smiled at her friend. "You want all three? Will I have to carry you home?"

Sookie blushed again. "No, just a Rob Roy." She smiled shyly at Jackson. "I feel sort of Scottish tonight."

"Really?" Jackson looked at her with pride. "I'm Scottish!"

"Are you really?" Sookie asked, enthralled. "Say something Scottish!"

"Um…" Jackson looked as if he'd hugely oversold his ancestry. "David Tennant?"

Sookie giggled, obviously ready to be amused and/or fascinated by anything Jackson said.

Lorelai glanced at Luke and he rolled his eyes at her. "Off to the bar," she said briskly.

Luke stood up too. "Let me get it."

"I'll cover my own drinks, thank you very much," she told him. She pushed him back down into his seat, smiling as she repeated his own words to him.

"So what's new at the Dragonfly? Did you ever decide what kind of stove you want?" Jackson asked Sookie.

Sookie launched into a lengthy explanation of why the brand of stove she wanted would bake the best cakes, but another brand was the epitome for roasting meat. Jackson hung on her every word.

Luke leaned back, devoting his full attention to the game. Obviously he was not needed to keep the conversation going.

Lorelai returned, already sipping on her tall drink. She handed the Rob Roy to Sookie.

"Didn't I hear that you're moving here, Lorelai? When's the big day?" Jackson asked her.

"Next weekend," Lorelai reported happily. "I'm going to be _so_ glad to have permanent lodging again. I'm tired of being a nomad, a lonely wanderer, a Bedouin, homeless…" She shook her head. "I have a whole new attitude about the gypsy lifestyle."

Jackson glanced around the table at the others before returning his focus to Lorelai. "I guess I'm out of the loop. Where have you been living?"

"With whoever's been willing to take me in. I've stayed with Sookie so much that I'm sure her neighbors think we're a couple. I've crashed with Babette and Morey a couple of times, which probably would have been a better experience if I was a foot shorter. I've stayed a few nights at the Independence Inn, which was a treat, and super educational for me. Miss Patty said I was always welcome to stay with her, as long as she didn't have…ahem… _another_ visitor." Lorelai winked. "Those sleepovers with her were _very_ interesting. I always thought I had no filter, but…" She shook her head and took a quick drink. "I bow to the master."

"As long as she didn't make any punch for you," Sookie commented.

"Oh, Patty makes the punch?"

"Yeah, it's deadly," Jackson warned.

"It is," Luke chimed in. "They use the leftovers to remove tar. Don't ever drink it."

Lorelai chuckled. "OK, I'll keep that in mind."

"We'll watch out for you," Sookie promised. "We usually do, for the newbies."

"You sort of need to grow into it," Jackson added. "Build up an immunity."

"Anyway," Lorelai continued, "I think I've stayed with just about everyone in town, except for this one." She pointed at Luke. "He has no sympathy for my nomad state."

Luke sighed heavily and kept his eyes on the game.

"Do you need any help moving? I happen to know a farmer with a truck," Jackson offered.

Luke suddenly was pulled back into the conversation. "Sorry – me too, obviously. I should have thought about that before."

"Aww, thanks, guys. I might take you up on that. I've got movers for my things in storage, but yeah, I could maybe use some help getting the stuff that's still at my parents'. It's not a lot, but probably more than I can haul in my car in one trip."

"Let me know," Jackson said, and Luke nodded in agreement.

Lorelai wanted to hear more about the infamous punch, and that lead to a general discussion of Stars Hollow festivals, which lead to the topic of how Taylor Doose was universally disliked, which then lead to how beloved Fran Weston was, and how Sookie still hoped to offer some of Fran's bakery specialties at the Dragonfly someday. Soon thereafter, Sookie and Jackson's heads grew closer together, as they found topics of conversation made just for the two of them.

Bored, Lorelai looked around for a diversion. She drank the last of her drink, then jumped up and went to stand behind Luke. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, and lowered her chin onto the top of his head. "Dance with me," she demanded.

"What? No," Luke refused.

"Aww, come on. Entertain me. It'll be fun!" she insisted, clinging even more tightly to him.

"Absolutely not. I'm not getting up in front of everyone and making a fool of myself."

"You're not going to look a fool. Take a gander at the clientele. Everyone's already half-drunk, they're not going to pay you any mind. And if they do, it's because they'll be looking at your gorgeous dance partner, not at your pathetic dance moves." She rubbed her chin maddeningly against his hair. "Come on, Lukey, dance with me!" She straightened up and pulled at his arm, trying to get him out of his seat.

"Oh, all right," he grumbled, standing up. "As long as you don't ever call me 'Lukey' again."

She was all smiles as she impishly pulled him towards the dance floor. "As you wish, Lucas."

"Yeah, don't do that, either."

She turned to face him and stepped into his arms, where she fit better than he'd ever hoped she might. She linked her hands behind his neck, and that damn purple sweater once again swooped lower when her arms raised. Luke decided that pretending he didn't notice was a lost cause. Instead, he drew her closer.

"Give me a progress report. How are our lovebirds doing?" she questioned, since her back was to their table.

He glanced over, reluctant to look away from her much more interesting cleavage. "They're fine. Still gabbing away. Sookie just did that thing you do with your hair sometimes, when you sort of wrap it around your finger."

Lorelai grinned. "She's up to hair twirling? Yeah, I'd say they're off to a great start."

"This was the most unnecessary set-up in history," Luke complained.

"Nah, they still needed us to give them the push, but I think they'll be able to take it from here."

"And we could have stayed home."

"Oh, come on, Luke! This isn't so bad, is it? Out with friends? Dancing with a pretty girl?" She tilted her head and batted her eyes at him. One of her thumbs skimmed sensually over the back of his neck, causing an uncontrollable jolt of desire to race down his spine.

"No, it's not so bad," he had to agree, his voice gruff.

"In fact, it's pretty nice, isn't it?" She loosened one hand from behind his neck, and brought it to the side of his face. She gently ran her knuckles over his jaw. "Scruffy," she said softly. "Why are the most handsome guys always the scruffy ones?"

Her words and her actions were as seductive as they could be, but a sweet hopefulness bathed her face. In fact, he could see a vulnerability there, so plainly that he understood he needed to be the one to take a step away. He'd carelessly lost sight of their main story. He'd allowed himself to get pulled under by her beauty and magnetic personality.

"Too nice," he warned, sounding grim. He tried to remove her hands from his face and neck, to put some distance between them.

"How can anything be _too nice_ between two consenting adults?" She smiled silkily at him, undoubtedly knowing that smile usually got her anything she wanted. Her voice dropped into a sexy, intimate range. "And I'm consenting, Luke. Anytime, anywhere. I'd consent to anything with you."

"Lorelai, no." He steeled himself against the smile, the cleavage, the sexual hit from her words. This time he succeeded in removing her hands from him. "This isn't…a good idea."

"What in the world are you talking about? Why the hell not?"

He shook his head, desperately. "You know why not."

"Is it…is it Rachel? Is it because the divorce isn't final yet?" She looked confused, and just as he'd feared, hurt. "Wow. So I guess she never had to worry about you straying, did she?" She did her best to sound like she was joking, but her voice was strained.

"Once," he whispered, the shock of finding himself in this situation making him admit more than he should. "There was only one day when I was tempted."

"When?" She studied his face, and somehow, she gleaned everything from just looking at him. "You mean that day in the park? But you said –" Her own face changed into despair. "You said – I wasn't her," she remembered, bitterly.

"Lorelai –"

"I need some air," she muttered. She turned on her heel and instinctively walked to the bar's back door.

" _Damn."_ He took a minute, his eyes closed tight, his hands clenched, regretting everything. He cursed himself for foolishly stepping right into the second trap she'd set for him.

By the time he walked out the door, joining her in the alley behind K.C.'s, she was kicking at the gravel, making it fly. He stood and watched.

"Guess you're mad at me," he observed, when she stopped to catch her breath.

"Yes! And me! And…and _her!"_ She kicked at the alley dirt and stones again. "Damn it, Luke!"

He sighed, sadly. "I know."

She wouldn't turn to look at him yet. "For sure, this isn't about Rachel?"

"No."

"Because this divorce is taking twice as long as what you initially said, and I thought that maybe –"

"No," he said again, firmly. "The divorce isn't final because Rachel hasn't been able to get back here yet. There's no other reason. None."

It was quiet, back in the alley. Luke could hear her breathing hard from her exertion, her anger. He could hear her sniffling, fighting tears.

"Go ahead and make fun of my choice of words, but I thought…I thought you _liked_ me, Luke."

"I _do_ like you, Lorelai, much more than I should. I mean, how can I help it? You're smart, and funny, too, mainly because you _are_ so smart. And you know exactly how pretty you are."

"Just not your kind of pretty," she said sourly.

Luke scoffed. "Yeah, that's not true." He shook his head. "You're beautiful. You know you are; you know that I think you are, too. You are the most amazing, the most intriguing…as well as the most annoying and most exasperating…but still, undoubtedly, the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

"I'm just not _her_ ," she said sharply. "What is it? You think _she's_ perfect? Do you think she's the answer to everything? Well, let me tell you, buddy, she's not perfect! If I'm her, or she's me, or however it's supposed to work, I can guarantee you that she's just as flawed as I am! Think about it – she got pregnant while she was still in high school! She is _not_ perfect!" she yelled at him.

"I never thought she was," Luke snapped, her anger finally igniting his. "Look, you weren't there that day, OK? It was only me and her. You have no idea what it was like, all right? No idea at all what it felt like to suddenly have your whole life upended! You have no idea how guilty I still feel about that day!" By the end, he was shouting, too.

"Guilty?" she repeated, sounding calmer.

"Yes, guilty!" He took a half-turn away from her, ran his hands through his hair, and then turned back, not knowing what else to do. "She came to find _me_ , do you understand that? She was suddenly in a world where nothing made sense. She had no one. She drove here, looking for _me_ , hoping that _I'd_ be the one thing that was still a constant in her life. But instead…I broke her heart," he said raggedly. "She loved me, even if I wasn't the right Luke, and I broke her heart. I saw it happen. I saw it on her face when I said I didn't know her. And me…I didn't even try to help her. I said I was sorry, but I couldn't help her. She walked away from me, crying and heartbroken. And I…I let her. I let her leave like that."

For a moment, Lorelai regarded him evenly, reflecting on his earnest words, or so he thought. "That is the _stupidest_ thing I've ever heard!" she then cried at him, angry again. "And so what? What does that have to do with us?"

"Geez Louise. Christ." Spent, he went to sit on the back step, hanging his head. He tried to smother his emotions and find the right words to explain the problem that apparently only he saw. "It's the same thing as the Dragonfly."

She walked over, too, and he made room on the stair, so that she could also sit down.

"I don't understand. What about the Dragonfly?"

"The Dragonfly only exists here because I found out it existed _there_."

"That's not true. It existed here. It always existed here. It just needed me to come fix it up."

"Exactly! That's what I mean! Your life, your history, is now changed because of what I told you! Because of the bleed over from this other life. It's all just a fantasy. We should have never met, don't you get it?"

Lorelai looked astounded. "How can you possibly say that? Do you really believe it? Would you be happier right now, if you'd never met me?"

He had to swallow hard. "No," he admitted.

"Then, Luke, I don't get it! Even if what you say is absolutely true, that there's another universe somewhere, with another Luke and Lorelai and another Dragonfly and another Stars Hollow…what difference does that make to us, here and now? Doesn't it follow that we're supposed to be together here, too?"

"But what if we're not? What if we should have never met? What if us being together is the absolutely worst thing we could do, sort of like connecting a jumper cable to the wrong battery terminal, or something? What if us being together is the one thing that blows our universe up?" He stopped to take a breath. "What if…what if I break _your_ heart, too?" he asked quietly, voicing his ultimate fear.

"I'm going to try and overlook the fact that you just compared me to a battery terminal."

"I didn't – Look, Lorelai, if I'm honest, you've become…well, the best friend I've ever had."

She looked like she'd absorbed a blow. "Friend," she said forlornly, almost under her breath.

"Yes, friend. I'm not the easiest guy to get along with, I know that. But you've made a huge difference in my life. I'm happier, like you said. And the one thing I know for sure is that I don't want to do something stupid and end up losing you. That makes sense, doesn't it? That we shouldn't tempt fate? You can understand that, can't you?"

She sat perfectly still for several beats of time. "You don't want to lose me," she repeated, extra-calmly.

"Right, exactly."

She stood up abruptly. "Too late. You already have." She turned, walked up the step, and went back inside the bar.

Not knowing what else to do, Luke sat there and let her go, his own heart close to breaking.

* * *

Sunday in the diner was a disaster. Luke hadn't been able to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could do was replay their words from behind K.C.'s. He saw again the way Lorelai had looked when she walked away, so incredibly hurt, but so fiercely determined.

And now it was indeed too late. He'd lost her. And if he didn't shake the sleep from his eyes pretty quickly, he was going to lose at least one finger, if his subpar slicing technique didn't improve. He needed to focus on his diner duties for the time being and ignore the emotional upheaval of the night before.

Of course, last night he'd eventually gotten up from the step and returned to the bar. Lorelai was long gone, having told Sookie and Jackson she had an unbearable headache. He tried to go along with the lie, but he could see that Sookie wasn't buying it. He made an excuse to leave, too, so that the real couple could be alone. The final blow was when he went to bar to settle his tab and found out that Lorelai had already paid it.

Mid-morning, he found himself standing senselessly behind the counter, staring at the coffee maker. What was he supposed to be doing? He couldn't remember why he was there. Coffee refill? Had Caesar called order up? Did somebody need silverware? He looked around, trying to reorient himself.

He heard the door open, and wearily, he turned to see who it was.

The first thing he saw were legs so shapely that he almost thought they were Lorelai's before he realized they weren't long enough to be hers. His eyes continued upwards, and he was embarrassed to see that the woman standing there so indignantly was old enough to be Lorelai's –

"Where is she?" Emily Gilmore demanded, marching to the counter.

Luke saw no reason to pretend he didn't know who she meant. "I don't know."

She scoffed. "Right, I'm sure you don't know, not you, the man who has for all intents and purposes kidnapped my daughter. I insist that you tell me immediately where I can find her!"

"Mrs. Gilmore, honestly, I'm the last person who would know where she is today."

Emily's eyes swept over him, seemingly cataloguing his faults. "You are a terrible liar."

"I am. That's true. But I'm not lying about this. I mean, I could take a guess about where she is, but –"

"Then guess," Emily commanded. Her eyes narrowed. "I suggest you make it a good one."

Luke sighed, then looked around the room, at all of the diner patrons openly watching the floor show he and this strange woman were putting on for them. "Give me ten or fifteen minutes, long enough to get my crew squared away for the afternoon. Then I'll take you out to where Lorelai probably is."

Emily drew herself up. "There's no need to ferry me, I'm perfectly capable of driving myself. Just give me the address and I'll be on my way."

"Well, there isn't exactly an address –"

"Oh, good grief!" Emily fumed. "How in the world can she expect people to make reservations and stay at this place if there's no address? That's insane! Or is that just another one of this village's charming quirks that my daughter has so foolishly fallen in love with?"

"Once the inn is open, I'm sure they'll have an address, but right now the only thing I could do is to draw you a map, and seeing how you're not familiar with the area at all, that might not be your best recourse."

"Oh, very well." With a huff of annoyance, Emily sat down at the nearest table to wait.

"Can I get you something? Cup of coffee, maybe?"

At first she looked down her nose at the suggestion, but then she sniffed the air and changed her mind. "Yes, thank you. That would be very nice."

Luke was bringing over the coffee when Lane Kim, one of his workers, ran through the door. "Luke, you can't keep calling me in on Sundays. You know Mama Kim would annihilate both of us if she knew I was working on the Lord's Day."

Emily raised her eyebrows as Luke sat down the cup. "Yet another daughter you're corrupting?"

"Not intentionally," Luke muttered. "Lane, this is Lorelai's mother."

"Oh, hi!" Lane rushed over, her hand outstretched. "I love Lorelai. Everybody does!"

"Yes, Lorelai is very lovable…or so I've heard," Emily said dryly.

Luke spelled Caesar at the grill, so that he could take a quick break. He brought Lane up to speed in the dining room, and made sure all of the odds and ends had been taken care of before he left.

"Ready?" he asked, stopping at Mrs. Gilmore's table.

"Of course." She stood up regally and followed him out the door.

"My truck's right here," he informed her.

She stopped in her tracks. "I'll drive my own car, thank you. I'll follow you."

"You can, but you might be sorry. The road leading back to the Dragonfly isn't very friendly to most passenger vehicles."

"Oh, good God! What, are you Sacajawea, ready to lead Lewis and Clark through the wilderness? Surely the countryside isn't as inhospitable as you make it sound!"

Luke leaned against the truck and removed his hat, trying to rub the weariness from his face. "Mrs. Gilmore, I'm just trying to take you out to your daughter. It's up to you if that's what you want to do or not."

"Oh, all right," she grumbled. Luke opened the passenger door and helped her in.

They drove out of town, silently at first, until Luke decided to try a friendlier overture. "We didn't meet under the best circumstance. I'm Luke Danes, in case you haven't deduced that."

"Emily Gilmore, but I'm sure you know that as well." Nevertheless, Emily held out her hand to him. "You have nice manners, by the way. Someone taught you well."

"My mother would be happy to hear that."

"You also make excellent coffee."

Luke smiled, briefly. "You daughter thinks so, too."

Emily scrutinized him again. "Yes. I'm sure she does," she said, in a much cooler tone.

After a mile or so of silence, Emily spoke again. "I just found out that my daughter is moving to this godforsaken place."

Luke nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I also just discovered that my husband foolishly gave her a large sum of money, which she will no doubt squander on this boondoggle inn of hers. Did you know that as well?"

He said nothing for as long he could, but Emily kept staring at him until he broke. "Well, yeah. Lorelai did tell me about that."

"I have the feeling that Lorelai tells you everything."

He dipped his shoulder, refusing to answer further.

"Before, in your diner, you made a comment about how you'd be the last person to know where Lorelai is _today_. Did the two of you have a falling out?"

He gave the slightest of nods.

"That seems to distress you, quite a bit. Are you and my daughter dating?"

"No," he said immediately, emphatically.

"But you want to be, is that it?"

"No," he replied, not quite as quickly and confidently as the first time.

"Does she?"

This time he just shook his head, weakly.

"You're fools, the both of you."

"Could be," he muttered. He drew in a breath. "Look, Mrs. Gilmore, Lorelai and I _are_ friends, but that's it. We've become really good friends, and I don't want anything else to get in the way of that."

"You're still a terrible liar, Mr. Danes."

"Luke," he corrected, because there was really nothing else to say. "Hang on now," he instructed, as they turned onto the path leading back to the Dragonfly.

"Good heavens!" Emily shrieked, as they hit the first major rut.

"It's just up ahead. See it?" Luke pointed out. Lorelai's very dusty black car was parked in the cleared area in front of the partially rebuilt inn.

Before he could get over to her side of the truck to help her down, Emily jumped out. Without further instructions, she tore up the new plywood stairs and into the open building. "Lorelai Victoria Gilmore!" she shouted.

"Mom?" Luke could hear Lorelai's voice coming from somewhere else in the building. There were footsteps and then Lorelai was there in front of them, her mouth hanging open in shock. "Mom! What are you doing here?" She spared a quick glance at Luke.

"Oh, I don't know Lorelai, what _could_ I be doing here? Why would I risk life and limb to travel into the wilds of Stars Hollow? It couldn't possibly be because my ungrateful daughter didn't even have the courtesy to tell me that she's moving out of my own house, could it?"

"Mom, I can explain." Lorelai ran a hand through her hair. "You've got to understand how much easier it will be for me, to live here."

But Emily didn't appear to be listening. Instead, she was staring at Lorelai. "Oh, Lorelai. _Your hair!"_

Lorelai became instantly defensive. "Yes, I know, that's something else I'm doing wrong. _What will people think, Lorelai, if you let your hair go all wild and curly?_ Well, too bad, Mom. I don't have time to fuss with it right now, so it is what it is, whether you like it or not!"

"No…you misunderstand." Emily seemed to be slightly choked up. "I _love_ your hair curly. I always have. I always thought that you straightened it…Well, just to spite me."

Once again, Lorelai looked stunned. "No, that's not –"

"I like your hair best when it's curly, too," Luke suddenly chimed in, his tiredness the only excuse for opening his mouth.

Both of the ladies turned and glared at him.

"And…I'm out of here." He held up his hands in surrender. "I brought your mother to you. The rest is up to you." He left the building and trudged back to his truck. He rubbed his eyes again and sighed before he started it up.

The construction guys had fashioned a circle drive to use as a turnaround spot. He made use of it, and then began the return trek down the long lane. He thought he heard something, faintly, and out of habit, he checked the rearview mirror. Instantly he stopped the truck, threw it into park, and jumped out.

Lorelai was running after the truck, calling his name. When she saw he'd stopped, she doubled over, her hands on her knees. He thought she was trying to catch her breath after the unaccustomed run, but as he drew closer he saw she was crying.

"Oh, no. No, no, no," he chanted under his breath, sprinting to her. "Don't cry. Please don't cry." He pulled her upright and tucked her against his chest. "It's OK. This is going to be OK, I promise."

"Luke, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant –" She had to break off her words to gulp down more air. "I'm so ashamed. I honestly thought we were on the same page. I would have never suggested anything else, if I thought you didn't –"

"No, no, no. We're on the same page, Lorelai, we are. We are." He held her tighter. "But before we write a new chapter, we have to make sure we're reading from the same book, don't we? Don't we need to make sure that it's published in our universe, at the very least? Because otherwise, how do we know it's real? Tell me you understand that. Please say you understand."

"Truthfully, I'm not sure I _do_ understand, Luke. Maybe it's because I wasn't there that day, like you pointed out last night. All I know is that I don't want to lose you either, and if friendship's all there is, then I'll take friendship. I don't want to do this without you. I can't even imagine doing this without you."

"Ditto," he said tenderly, giving her another squeezing hug.

She gave a shaky sigh and rubbed her face against his chest.

"Did you just wipe your face on my shirt?" he asked suspiciously.

"Would I do something like that?" she teased, still keeping her arms tight around him. "Seriously though, Luke, I'll try my best not to annoy you about this. I recognize that you have doubts; that you see this differently than I do, mostly because you're coming at it from a different angle than I am. So I'll try to let you deal with those doubts in your own time."

"They're not doubts. At least, not about you, exactly. It's the way this whole thing started that worries me. I just want to make sure that we're not going to wake up some morning and find out that the other one has disappeared."

She giggled unexpectedly. "You know, if anyone else ever overheard us…"

"They'd cart us both off to the looney bin."

"Oh well. At least we'd be together then." She pulled away slightly and wiped her fingers under her eyes, taking care of the last of the tears. "So, friends, right?"

"The best of friends," he agreed, willing to sound sappy since it was just the two of them. He put his hands on top of her shoulders.

A flash of mischief streaked over her face. "Friends with benefits?"

"No," he said sternly, but he also squeezed his eyes shut briefly and felt his fingers dig into her shoulders, because honestly, that idea sounded pretty damn good to him.

"Can't blame a girl for trying." She grinned gamely at him.

"Um…" Luke's attention was caught by something on the inn's porch. "You should probably go deal with your mom now."

"Is she watching us?"

"Yep."

"Does she look mad?"

"Let me put it this way. You remember how Nicole was looking at you, that day in the diner?"

"Ooh. That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. She definitely wants me dead, the sooner the better."

Lorelai chuckled humorlessly. "No, that look is probably aimed at me."

Luke disentangled and took a step towards the truck. "Hey, does your mom have a favorite dessert or anything? Pie, maybe?"

"Well, she makes these amazing apple tarts for Christmas, so she'd probably eat an apple pie. Why?"

"Bring her by the diner and I'll have an apple pie for her. And coffee. She mentioned that she liked my coffee."

"Well, duh. Of course she did." She looked back over her shoulder, checking out the mother situation for herself. "Thanks, Luke. You _are_ the best friend I could ever find." She grinned at him. "Don't tell Sookie I said that, OK?"

"Unlike Jackson, I can keep a secret."

"What?"

"Never mind. Go deal with your mom."

"Thanks again." She gave him another quick hug, and he struggled once again with the desire to kiss her forehead.

She lightly touched her fingers to the skin under his eyes. "Instead of making a pie, maybe you should take a nap," she suggested, true affection in her voice.

"I'll be fine. See you later."

"Yeah, see you pal." She waved. "Oh, and hey – if I don't show up, you know where to look for the body, right?"

"You can hold your own," Luke said knowingly. After the ride in the truck, he suspected that Emily Gilmore wasn't as much of a tyrant as her daughter believed.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** OK, I admit it, in any universe I'd love this chapter. I'm having a ton of fun mixing in references from throughout the series. My favorite paragraph in this chapter is the one concerning consent. Way to put it out there, Lorelai! Just wondering – is anyone happy to see Emily? She certainly livened up the diner, plus she gave Luke the reason he needed to go tell Lorelai he liked her hair curly, so I guess I'm happy she stopped by! As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you at the next chapter! (Or we'll be together in the looney bin, if anyone overhears us...)


	8. Forbidden Friends, Rude Rivals

Luke was delivering pancakes as fast as he could, when the diner's door opened and Lorelai strolled in. She stepped up to him and bumped her elbow against his arm. At least she'd waited until his hands were empty.

"Surprised to see me?" she crowed.

"No," he said shortly, and began the trip back to the kitchen.

She followed. "Luke! It's breakfast time!"

"I'm well aware of that," he grumbled, pointing at the packed diner.

Lorelai paused and looked around. "Wow. Yeah. Who _are_ all these people?"

"Paying customers." He grabbed another armload of plates and rushed off to deliver them.

" _Luuuke,"_ she whined, still tagging along. "Somebody's sitting in my spot!"

In the midst of setting down eggs and waffles at the proper places, he glanced over at the counter. True, someone was sitting on 'her' stool. "You snooze, you lose," he told her flippantly. He really didn't have time to placate her at the moment.

Then he made the mistake of looking back, to catalogue what needed to be done next for his roomful of diners. Unfortunately, the only thing that registered was Lorelai's woebegone face as she leaned against the front wall, trying to appear nonchalant while waiting for a place to open up for her.

His uncaring façade crumbled. "Ah, geez, I'm a pushover," he muttered to himself. He sprinted down the hall and into the storeroom, where he snatched up an odd stool that had come to rest there years before. He wiped it down as fast as he could, removing whatever dust and cobwebs had collected on the rungs. He carted it into the diner proper, and then shoved and rearranged napkin holders and the doughnut display until there was enough room for one more customer at the very end of the counter.

Catching her eye, he motioned for her to come sit at the newly created spot.

A smile that lit up her entire face answered him. He could see the happy sparkle in her blue eyes from clear across the room. He decided that a pushover was not always a bad thing to be.

"Thanks, Luke!" She eagerly hopped up on the reclaimed stool, still beaming. In her happiness, she swiveled the seat from side to side.

Her utter delight made him feel guilty; so guilty that he took a few minutes to chat. "So why am I supposed to be surprised to see you?"

"This is the first time I've been here for breakfast."

"It is?" He tried to think back on all of her visits. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." She looked offended that he'd question her over such an important statistic. "I've been in for an early lunch on the weekends, but I've never actually been here for a bona fide breakfast."

"Huh." He was now so used to seeing her in the diner that he found it hard to believe there was a time of day when she hadn't been present. "So why today?"

"Because I'm an official Stars Hollow resident now," she said proudly. "I can stop here for breakfast, just like everyone else." She slumped slightly. "Of course, I could have been coming in during all of my nomadic weeks, but I didn't think about it. I guess I was still thinking like a Hartford inhabitant, figuring that I'd grab something once I got into the city." She shook her head. "What a waste." She looked at him mournfully. "I could have been getting your coffee to go!"

"That sounds like the way a rich city girl would think, all right."

"Don't start this again."

"I mean, girls who grow up behind gates, in castles –"

"Luke, stop it!"

"You could have at least warned us." He shook his head. "There we were, Jackson, Sookie, and myself, pulling up in front of this mansion in our work trucks, dressed in our oldest clothes, because we all know what moving day is like. We figured we had the address wrong. And then a maid – an honest to God _maid_ – opens the door, and we find out that we _are_ at the right place, but you're not even there."

"I had to get more boxes," she said defensively. "And as I've told you before, that's my parents' lifestyle. Their home. Their money. That's not me, or who I am."

"Uh-huh, right. I think you're forgetting who carried out the box filled with all your ball gowns, Cinderella."

"Exactly. If you think I'm Cinderella, that proves my point."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "You were being forced to scrub floors and sleep in the ashes?"

"Wait – _you_ know Cinderella?"

"Had a sister. Went to school. Watched Disney, just like every other kid in the world. I'm not a complete moron." He looked at her skeptically. "So what are you saying? That you're actually a scullery maid who was forced to live like a princess?"

For a second or two he saw that she was turned around by his words, but then she nodded enthusiastically. "Yes!"

"Geez, Lorelai, come on! Seriously?"

"I never fit in my parents' world. I could pretend that I did, and go along with it, but deep-down I knew it wasn't for me. The ball gowns were obligations, not because of any yearning on my part to be a princess."

"Then why box them up and make some poor schmuck move them?" Luke demanded.

The satisfied smile on her face told him that she was going to win, whether he agreed or not. "Because they're pretty and shiny and sparkly," she cooed. "And…I look damned good in all of them."

Luke sighed, defeated. There was no counter-argument. He was willing to bet that she _did_ look damn good in all of them.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked instead.

She looked around at the other diners. "The pancakes look tasty."

"I'll put in your order." He started to walk away, but suddenly remembered something. "Hey, I've got a friend stopping by this Saturday. He owns a coffee house sort of thing just outside of Hartford. He's heard me talking about the Dragonfly and he's curious to see it. Would it be OK if I brought him around?"

" _Your_ friend?" she asked, grinning in glee. "Sure, of course! I might as well give you a key, since you check in on us so much."

"I'll make sure you're there before we stop by," he promised her.

"No problem." That beaming smile was firmly back in place. "I'll look forward to meeting him."

By the time Luke brought out her plate of pancakes, he'd thought of something else. "Now that you're an official resident, you should start coming to the town meetings."

"Oh, I should! They sound like a real hoot." She poured half a pitcher of syrup over her pancakes. "You don't think anyone would mind?"

"Nah. Who cares? Come see the insanity up close and personal."

"Awesome." Unable to wait any longer, she cut off a triangle from her stack of pancakes and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing quickly. "When's the next one?"

"Next Tuesday, I think. I'll check and let you know. Or ask Patty. They're at her studio."

Her fork dripped syrup as she pointed it at him. "I'll be there, buddy!"

Chuckling at her misplaced enthusiasm, he went to take care of his other customers.

* * *

"Man, there's not much out this way, is there? Do you think this is really going to work?"

"She thinks it will. And after all, this _was_ a thriving inn, once upon a time."

"An inn that went out of business."

"I think that was more because the family lost interest in running it. I don't know why it closed, truthfully."

"And that was before there was a sprawling, updated inn available on the other side of town. What's going to make anybody drive clear over here?"

Luke glanced at his friend. He wasn't sure if Alex was playing devil's advocate or showing off the skills a realtor had taught him when he was looking to open his own coffee shop. He shrugged, bringing his eyes back to the road. "All I can tell you is that Lorelai's done her homework. She feels pretty confident that they can make a go of this."

"I concede that Stars Hollow has a certain charm, but this isn't that close to the town itself. I mean, she can't even use taking a stroll through town as a selling point."

"They plan on having a van available to shuttle visitors back and forth. And they'll have maps, of course, so people can explore on their own, if they want."

Alex's eyebrows rose upwards towards the shaggy dark hair on his forehead. "Maps with no names?"

"There will be names," Luke grumbled. "Lorelai's already talked to the county commissioner about it. There _are_ names on the official maps, but for some reason, street signs never got put up. It was an oversight. It will be corrected."

"Uh-huh. You've dealt with bureaucracy before. You really think it will be that easy?"

"And you haven't met Lorelai. She is the original unstoppable force."

"But sometimes reality stops you in your tracks, I don't care who you are. Tell me, what's going to convince anyone to stay the night out here?"

Luke nodded, taking the turn into the Dragonfly's lane. "She plans on using the isolation as part of the selling point. You know, get away from it all. Step back into a more peaceful era. Relax while being pampered."

Alex put his hand on the dash as the truck hit the roughest part of the drive. He looked around at the scenery. "Maybe," he said doubtfully.

"Plus, her business partner is a fantastic cook, and their dining room will be open to the public. Sookie has made quite a name for herself. They figure people will come out here to eat, if nothing else. Once they see the place, they'll think about staying. Or at least, recommend it to their friends when they visit."

"I don't know, Luke. Depending on food to bring customers to an inn sounds backwards to me."

The truck coasted to a stop in front of the construction. Luke pointed straight out through the windshield. "The mill isn't too far in that direction. Lorelai's already made plans with the owners for some joint events. There will be a scenic trail leading over to the mill, as well as a riding path. The mill will have discounts available for Dragonfly guests, and vice versa. They'd been trying to figure out how to lure more people to their place, too, so they're eager to partner up."

"Your gal sound like a regular marketing guru," Alex said, finally breaking into a smile.

"She's not my gal," Luke objected in reply.

He gave Alex a quick tour around the outside of the buildings, explaining what the plans were for each structure, and showing him what had already been done. October had turned chilly, so they didn't spend too much time out in the crisp autumn air.

"Anybody around?" Luke called out when they stepped inside the inn.

"Yeah, we're here!" Sookie soon appeared in the entry. A bandana held back her hair, and a few dark splotches decorated her smiling face. "Sorry," she said, peeling rubber gloves from her hands. "My chore for the day is trying to strip and stain that built-in china cabinet in the dining room. Neatness is not exactly my strong suit!" She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped at the worst of the splatters on her face.

"This is an old friend of mine, Alex Lesman. Alex, this is the co-owner of the Dragonfly, Chef Sookie St. James. She's a big reason that the Independence has been as successful as it has been." Normally he didn't elaborate on introductions, but after Alex's dour initial impression, he wanted to do all he could to impress him.

"Aww, Luke, thanks!" Cheerfully, Sookie held her hand out to Alex. "Hi, welcome to the Dragonfly!" She giggled. "Oh, wow! That's the first time I've gotten to say that!"

Alex couldn't resist Sookie's exuberance, and he smiled back. "I see you're one of those hands-on owners."

"Oh yeah, we've got to be! Plus, it's kinda fun, to see things turn beautiful again. I never knew I could do this kind of stuff. I thought my only creative outlet was cooking, but I guess there was a DIY gene lurking inside me, too." She looked at both of them. "So do you want the grand tour? Lorelai's around here, somewhere."

"Wait." Alex frowned slightly, tapping a finger on his upper lip. "You said…Sookie? St. James, right?"

"Yeah, that's me."

Alex chuckled dryly. "So this is completely out of left field, but by any chance, do you know Joe Mastoni?"

"Joe?" Sookie's face lit up, giving no doubt as to what her answer was going to be. "Of course I know Joe! Oh my God, _Joe_? _You_ know Joe?"

"He's my business partner, actually."

"No!" she exclaimed, shocked. "Where?"

"Here. Well, not right here. Just outside Hartford. We run a little coffee shop, the Mud House."

"Get out!" Sookie clasped her hands together, forgetting about the messy rubber gloves she was holding. "I haven't seen Joe in years!"

"He talks about you all the time, about that summer you cooked together."

Sookie giggled like a maniac. "Yeah, that summer in the Berkshires was epic! Feldman, and Mellon, and Bung –"

"Bung?" Luke repeated.

"He was the grill man," Sookie said quickly, as if that explained everything. "Oh, God. We'd all pile into a van after the lodge closed for the night, and end up half a state away in the morning. Then we'd have to get back before prep started again in the afternoon. It was the craziest time of my life!"

Alex grinned. "Yeah, that's what Joe says, too."

"Man, I would _love_ to see him again!"

"Come over anytime, I know the feeling is mutual." Alex found a business card and gave it to Sookie. "Joe's not going to believe that I ran into you today."

Sookie tucked the card into a pocket of her jeans. "So how about you? You cook, too?"

Alex snorted derisively. "Not even a little bit. I'm strictly around for the business side of things. If you held a gun to my head, I could _maybe_ manage to figure out how to run the coffee machine. Not anything fancy, like the cappuccino maker. Just plain coffee."

"Who's talking about coffee?" Lorelai questioned gaily, stepping into the entry area. "As the queen of all things coffee related, I demand to know!" Her smile flashed around the room at her two friends, and ended up as a welcome to the stranger.

Luke watched as the full-on Lorelai effect hit Alex. His mouth dropped open as her presence erased all other thoughts from his mind. Luke smiled to himself. He'd been there. He knew what that was like.

Alex recovered quicker than Luke expected. "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Alex." He advanced on Lorelai, holding out his hand.

"Lorelai." She eagerly shook his hand. "So what's with the coffee talk?" She looked hopefully at Luke. "You brought some?"

Luke shook his head, smiling faintly, and crossed his arms over his chest. Now that the introductory handshake was over, he was really wishing that Alex would back off a foot or two – or more. The other side of the room would be good.

"I'm part owner of a coffee shop in Hartford," Alex quickly responded. "The Mud House? Maybe you've heard of it?"

"Afraid not. Great name, though."

"We thought so," Alex said, with a smile so charming that it induced an answering one from Lorelai.

"Lorelai! Guess who his partner is!" Sookie reached for Lorelai's arm and gave it a tug, leaving a nice fingerprint of stain on Lorelai's long-sleeved tee. "Joe!"

Lorelai looked blank. "Joe?"

"Joe! Joe Mastoni! Deerhill Lodge! _That_ Joe!"

"You're kidding. Not the Joe with Bung and the gang?"

Alex laughed. "No way. You know the Bung stories too?"

"Yes, although until this minute, I thought she'd been fabricating them. If they're all true, I don't know how the gang is still alive."

"I keep telling Joe he needs to write them all down. Wild chef stories seem to be a thing right now in the bookstores."

Still thrilled about discovering their mutual acquaintance, Sookie reached over and tugged on Alex's sleeve too, leaving another smudge of stain. "I'm _so_ excited that Joe's around!"

Lorelai nodded at Alex's sleeve and then pointed to her own. "Hey, now we match. Like a secret club or something."

Alex grinned back at her before turning his attention to Sookie. "Come on over with me today. Joe's at the shop. I want to see his reaction when you walk in. It will blow his mind."

" _Yes!"_ Sookie said, with even more than her normal enthusiasm. "Oh – no, wait. I can't today. I'm meeting…uh, _someone_ …in town a little bit later this afternoon."

"Too bad. I know Joe would flip out to see you. Well, stop by anytime, the welcome mat will be out for you."

"How do you guys know each other?" Lorelai asked, looking over at Luke.

Alex answered before Luke could even open his mouth. "Funny story. When Joe and I were doing the footwork, trying to get our place open, I spent a weekend shopping in Hartford, and no matter where I went, I ran into this guy with the flannel fetish."

Luke stared at the floor, trying to hide his discomfort with a strained smile.

Lorelai giggled. "He does like the flannel, doesn't he?"

"Anyway, he was at the restaurant supply place. He was at the big box store. He was even at the sports place, in the fishing aisle." Alex smiled easily. "I would have thought he was stalking me, except that he was at all of those places first. The next day I drove around this whole area, looking to get a lay of the land and sort of check out the competition. I stumbled into Stars Hollow and spotted the diner. I stepped inside and there was flannel guy again, this time behind the counter."

"Aww, that's a great meet-cute story," Lorelai teased.

"After I tasted how phenomenal his coffee was, I thought it might be best to befriend the competition, pick his brain about the whole restaurant business. Turned out we had quite a bit in common. There was fishing and baseball, besides the coffee making. We've been hanging out together ever since."

"I'm glad to hear that Mr. Anti-Social here has friends," Lorelai said, grinning mischievously at Luke. "Now, who's ready for the tour of our majestic palace-to-be?"

"Me, definitely," Alex said. He stuck by Lorelai's side, asking thoughtful questions as they traveled from room to room in the big old building. He was quick to offer her an arm as they traversed the more ramshackle parts of the structure, and to his credit, did the same for Sookie.

They ended up in what was going to be the dining room, some day. Again, Alex led the discussion with some insightful questions and even made several good suggestions regarding the layout of the space.

Luke wandered over to a recently installed window and stared out, tired of hearing Lorelai laugh and banter with Alex. The three were debating the merits of digital ordering systems to connect the servers and the kitchen staff, something that held no interest whatsoever to Luke. He let his mind drift. His ears tuned back in, though, when he heard Alex say, "Hey, just come over with me now, and see the system we went with. I think you'll really like it."

"Wish I could." Sookie shook her head sadly. "But Jackson's expecting me in about an hour."

"Ooh, Jackson, huh? Should I tell Joe he's got competition?"

Sookie's cheeks pinked up prettily. "No offense to Joe, he's a super great guy, but – yeah. Jackson's someone pretty special."

"Joe will be crushed, I suspect." He turned to Lorelai. "How about you? You feel like making a quick trip to Hartford?"

Lorelai swiftly looked over at Luke, her whole face a question. He shrugged his shoulders at her, keeping his expression neutral. "Um, sure," she said, giving him one more searching look before focusing on Alex. "I'd like that. Plus, I'm always up to taste-test some coffee, hint, hint."

"I can make that happen. Well, not me, personally, mind you, but Joe will be there, and a couple of other employees who know what they're doing." Now it was his turn to look seriously at Luke. "How about you, buddy? You tagging along? We can probably find you some herbal tea or something."

"No," Luke said brusquely. "I've got to get back to the diner."

"You're not coming?" Lorelai asked, obviously confused.

Alex tilted his head, studying Luke. "You're sure?" he verified, giving him a significant look.

"I've wasted enough time for one day. Go. Have fun," he said, coloring the words with only the slightest shade of sarcasm.

"Cool. We'll catch up later." Alex turned to Lorelai. "My car's in town. Are you OK giving me a lift back to it?"

"Uh…" Lorelai looked blankly around the room, still seeming unbalanced from the rapid change of events. "Yeah, of course. Just let me grab my coat and stuff."

Alex followed her out of the room. "Nice meeting you, Chef Sookie. Come see Joe soon. Luke, catch you later, man."

"Yeah. Later," Luke muttered. " _Buddy_."

* * *

"What just happened here?" Sookie wondered, staring hard at the doorway where Lorelai and Alex had exited. She sounded bewildered, as well as slightly irritated.

Luke grunted, a response that could have indicated anything.

Sookie zeroed in on him. "Luke, are you OK with this?"

"With what?" he asked, steeling himself to show nothing.

"With the fact that Lorelai just left here with your pal Alex."

He shrugged, putting on an elaborate display of indifference. "He's a friend. So's Lorelai. If they want to go somewhere together, what's it to me?"

"Well, based on everything I've observed, I would have thought it meant a great deal to you, but hey – what do I know?" She snapped her plastic gloves back on. "I've got just a little bit left to do on the china cabinet, so I'm going to finish that up and then get out of here. I won't be long. Go ahead and go back to the diner."

"No, that's OK." Quickly, Luke glanced around for an excuse to stay. "I'll just –"

Sookie's laugh cut him off. "Seriously, Luke, it's fine. I won't even be another fifteen minutes. It's perfectly safe to leave me here."

"That's _not_ why I… What, did Jackson tell you?"

"Tell me what? That you've taken it upon yourself to be the Dragonfly's one-man security team?"

"No," he grumped, maddened to have been found out.

"He didn't have to. I know I can be a ditzy mess while I'm cooking, but I'm not an idiot. It's been pretty obvious that you're concerned about us being out here on our own."

He groaned inwardly. "Does Lorelai know, too?"

"What do you think? She's not an idiot either, is she?"

This time he groaned out loud.

"Luke, don't worry about it. I think she likes having you around. In fact, I think she likes an awful lot of things about you. That's why I'm so surprised that she went off with Alex."

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and turned towards the new window.

"OK, I'm shutting up, butting out, and going back to staining."

A mound of cardboard caught his eye. "There's a ton of empty boxes out on the porch. I think I'll break them down and toss them in the trash before I go, so Tom's guys don't have to deal with it on Monday."

Chuckling, Sookie changed course, coming over to him and throwing her arms around him. "You're pretty nice, Luke Danes. I like having you around, too."

Luke gave her a couple of pats on her shoulder, suspecting that now he too had fingerprints of brown stain on the back of his jacket.

"My last word of advice – at least talk to Lorelai about this," Sookie said, heading to her project.

"Right, talk," Luke grumbled, and went out to flatten the boxes. The poor cardboard never saw it coming.

* * *

The mileage between Stars Hollow and Hartford was a verified fact. Traffic, speed, and road construction were always variables, but still, everyone pretty much knew that it took a minimum of thirty minutes to get there, and at least that long to drive back.

In one hour, ten minutes, a seething Lorelai stormed in through the diner's front door.

" _Your boy_ thought it was a date!" she roared angrily, obviously not caring who heard. She marched to the counter. Sparks of indignation, practically visible to the naked eye, seemed to shoot off from her in every direction.

The diners sitting at the counter ducked for cover.

"He's not _my boy_ ," Luke retorted. He put up a shield of indifference.

"Why would he even _think_ that?" Lorelai demanded furiously.

"Gee, Lorelai, why would he? Hmm, let's see. He flirted with you for a half hour, you flirted back for the same length of time, he asked you out, and you went. How's that for a reason?"

For a moment, she gaped at him, until her rage reignited. "That is _not_ …! You _know_ that is not what happened!"

Luke shrugged coolly, crossing his arms across his chest and keeping his face impassive.

"Why didn't you come along? I _expected_ you to come along!"

"Why would I come along?" He leaned across the counter, some of his own repressed anger beginning to break through. "It was a date!"

" _It was not!"_

"Right," he said, the word as thick with sarcasm as he could manage.

"Luke, he's _your_ friend!"

"So?"

"So he should know!"

"Know what?"

"Know that you – that we –" Her anger faltered. She blinked rapidly and gulped down some air. She scanned his face and then grasped the counter for balance as she tried to land her bottom on a stool. "Oh. My. God." She took another deep breath, as sadness and hurt washed over her features. "He doesn't know. _He really doesn't know_. You haven't said a word to him about _anything_ , have you?"

Luke's confidence about being in the right began to waver. "Lorelai –"

"Don't." She got unsteadily to her feet. "Don't bother trying to smooth this over." She took a step away but then turned back. "You know, supposedly there's this book, with a page in it that we're both reading, but yet you seem to think you can skip right over if it suits you." She pressed her lips together hard, and he could see the sheen of tears in her eyes. "And do you know what's almost worse? It's that you've decided that I'm the type of person who would just rip the page right out, crumple it up, and throw it away if something else new and shiny came along."

"No, I don't – that's not –" Desperation began to set in as he floundered for the best way to fix the situation.

Lorelai pushed a few rumpled curls back behind her ears, and then gave a quick nod. "I guess I'm starting to understand why Rachel walked away. Maybe the best thing to do is to follow her example."

Miserable, Luke watched as she did just that.

* * *

She didn't come back. Not then, not the next day. Or the one after that. Or even the one after that.

On Sunday he told himself it was fine. Some time apart would do them both good. Time to reevaluate; time to put things in perspective. It was a good thing. Really, it was.

Monday was never-ending. He held his breath every time the bells over the door chimed, but it was never her. By Monday night he was concocting and just as rapidly discarding reasons to go check on her.

By Tuesday he was terrified that he'd made the biggest mistake of his life.

Tuesday night found him in the street, watching for her to walk by on the way to the town meeting. At least, he hoped she'd still come to the meeting. If she didn't, he decided that he'd go straight over to her house…and beg, if that's what it took.

The weather had turned much cooler. He huddled inside his old green Army jacket, wishing he would've grabbed the scarf his mother had knitted for him years ago. That was usually his only concession to the dipping temperature – that, and some fingerless gloves. Tonight his fingertips were being seared by the Styrofoam cup of hot coffee he held, hoping it might be enough to bring a smile to her face.

Finally, he saw her approaching. She had on jeans, and fleecy boots that looked more like slippers than streetwear. Her white sweater seemed thick enough to keep out the wind, plus she wore a sleeveless, insulated vest over it. A white knitted hat covered her head, and her dark, perfectly straight hair swished fluidly against her shoulders. In fact, her hair was _so_ aggressively straight that he knew instinctively she'd done it as a punishment, to deny him even one glimpse of the curls he'd admitted to loving.

She stopped a good foot in front of him, unsmiling.

Earlier, he'd thought of at least a half-dozen things to start the conversation, but seeing her up close, and still so obviously pissed at him, made him toss them all away. Instead, he held the cup out to her mutely.

She sighed, looked away, and then brought her eyes back to him. "You can't expect that this is going to work every time, Luke. You can't keep on starting stupid fights, and then think a cup of coffee or something to eat is going to make it all better. I'm not that gullible. Or that desperate."

"Right, right." He suddenly saw the coffee as the bribe it was. "Sorry. I guess I was just trying to find a way to break the ice. I'll just…" He turned around, looking for a trash can, or someplace to sit the cup down for the time being.

Lorelai reached over his shoulder and snatched the cup out of his hand. "I didn't say I didn't want it," she complained, cradling it between her palms. She glared at him. "What did the poor little cup of coffee do that makes you want to abandon it? Poor thing," she cooed to the cup. "I'll rescue you and keep you safe."

"Does this mean that we're OK?" Luke asked, with hope in his voice.

"No, it just means I'm not willing to see a cup of coffee go to waste," Lorelai said bluntly.

The big blue door to the dance studio rolled open, and Miss Patty looked out. "Hurry up, you two, and get in here. Luke, you know it makes Taylor's head explode when people walk in late." As they walked past her, she checked the street for other stragglers.

Once inside, Lorelai quickly got her bearings and slipped into a row with some empty seats in the middle of it. Luke followed her. When he sat down in the seat next to her she rolled her eyes at him and then rather defiantly took a sip of the coffee.

"Can we talk after the meeting?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "That's up to you." She looked at him coolly. "I highly recommend it, however."

Taylor rapped on the podium and called the meeting to order. "Miss Gilmore, how nice to see you joining us."

Lorelai looked a little surprised to be singled out. "Thanks, Taylor. I'm just here to do my civic duty."

"You need to understand though, that as a renter, you are not allowed to vote on any of the issues. That privilege is reserved for property owners only."

"Except for me."

Taylor rubbed his forehead, already looking weary. "Kirk…"

Kirk stood up and turned around so he could see Lorelai. "I'm a special case."

"That's true," Luke muttered, almost under his breath.

"I cast proxy votes for Mother. She doesn't like to appear in public unless it's absolutely necessary," Kirk explained further.

" _Thank_ you, Kirk. Now if you'll please sit down, we'll get the meeting underway."

"May I comment?"

Taylor stumbled over what he was going to say next. "I'm sorry, what's that?"

"Comment," Lorelai said again. "You know, make observations. Remark upon the proceedings. Possibly voice witty and/or sarcastic statements based upon the content of the meeting."

"'Course you can, Toots," Babette confirmed.

"It's the only reason half of us are here," Gypsy agreed.

"You get extra points if you can make Taylor put his hands on his hips and look like smoke is going to pour from his ears," Jackson added.

"Free discussion is more or less a trademark of town hall meetings," Andrew, the book store owner, said, as everyone in attendance murmured in assent.

"People, come on!" Taylor caught himself standing with his hands on his hips. He glared at Jackson as he deliberately straightened his arms. "We have a full agenda tonight. Let's focus, shall we?"

"Extra five points to Jackson," Sookie said slyly, from where she was sitting right next to him.

"Noted," Miss Patty said, making a mark in her notebook.

Lorelai chuckled. "This is fun!" she whispered to Luke.

"You have strange ideas of fun," he reminded her.

The meeting began to go through the usual circuit: traffic violations, parking issues, special permits. A few notices about the upcoming election. Luke had heard it all a thousand times. He let his attention drift, more concerned about the mindset of the straight-haired woman sitting beside him. When the discussion inevitably turned to the next festival scheduled for the town square, he deliberately tuned it out. That was always a topic he preferred to ignore.

"How do you normally advertise it?"

Luke had been so zoned out that he actually jumped when Lorelai spoke.

"Advertise?" Miss Patty asked.

"Yeah. How do you get the word out about the festivals?"

"Well, we put up posters."

Lorelai nodded. "In neighboring towns?"

Patty shook her head. "No, in the windows of businesses here in Stars Hollow."

"But…" Confused, Lorelai glanced over at him, then continued on with her thought. "Doesn't everyone in Stars Hollow already know about it?"

"They _should_ ," Taylor said cuttingly. "But you'd be surprised at the level of indifference." He stared pointedly at Luke.

"What I'm getting at is that you want more people than just residents of Stars Hollow to attend, don't you? Isn't the reason for the festival to raise money for…something?"

"To maintain the old bridge," Andrew clarified.

"OK." Lorelai nodded. "And you can't expect the same Stars Hollow people to come to these festivals over and over again and keep forking out money for these causes."

"Exactly," Luke said, happy to back her up on that point.

"So that means you need to expand your marketing. You need to get posters up in the towns around Stars Hollow. You need to find out how to place ads for free in the visitors' guides for this area. Maybe you should create a website for the town. Print up some brochures to leave at the Independence Inn and other places where travelers will see them. You know, like at the Dragonfly, when it opens." She grinned.

"Excellent ideas, young lady, but we certainly can't afford to pay somebody to do those things," Taylor scoffed.

"Oh, I can do it," Lorelai offered casually.

"No, you can't," Luke said immediately.

"Of course I can," Lorelai corrected him, her voice sounding way too sweet.

"No, you can't," Luke argued. "You're already insanely busy. When would you have time to take on something so time-consuming?"

She frowned at him, her expression telling him to back off. "This is what I do, Luke. It's easy."

"It's _not_ easy!" he steamed. "Are you trying to kill yourself? You're already working the equivalent of two full-time jobs! When are you going to sleep? Or eat?"

"You'll feed me," she said easily. "In any case, I'm volunteering my services."

Taylor looked stunned. "Well, Lorelai…I don't know what to say. But yes, we will certainly accept your gracious –"

"Oh, wait!" Lorelai interrupted sadly. "Maybe I can't do that? I mean, if I'm not a voting member of the town, I probably can't volunteer either, can I? Gee, I'm so sorry, but I guess rules are rules, aren't they?"

"Taylor, we can surely make an exception in this case, can't we?" Patty pleaded.

"Well…well, I don't know. I mean, we'd have to amend the bylaws, and possibly also –"

Sookie jumped to her feet. "I propose an amendment to the Stars Hollow bylaws, giving voting rights to non-property owners, should they be willing to provide volunteer services to the town."

"I second it!" Jackson called out.

"All those in favor?" Patty asked, raising her own arm.

"Aye!" sounded from practically everyone else in the room, Luke being one of the noticeable exceptions.

"Now, wait just a minute!" Taylor was once again standing with his hands on his hips. "That's not the way it's done!"

"Taylor, I don't see the problem," Patty said. "You told us what we'd need to do to rectify the situation, Sookie proposed the amendment, Jackson seconded it, and the ayes have it." She showed the minutes to Taylor, as if that was the only thing he was questioning. "We definitely followed the rules of order."

"Oh…very well!" Taylor was still fuming.

"Patty?" Jackson said.

"Yes, dear?"

"Make sure that Sookie gets her extra five points."

Patty chuckled and made another mark on the page. "Also noted."

Lorelai turned to Luke, her eyes shining. " _So_ much fun!"

* * *

He waited for her outside the studio, grudgingly saying goodnight to the town's other residents as they filed past him.

Finally Lorelai came out, a folder of town events stuffed underneath her arm.

He fell into step with her. "Did you plan that?"

"Plan what?"

"A way to force Taylor into letting you vote."

"How could I plan that? Until he told me at the start of the meeting, I didn't even know. That was all pure serendipity."

He shook his head, feeling battered. "Do you always get everything you want?"

Her steps faltered briefly. "Usually."

"How are you going to do this? Just work it into your abundant free time?"

"Luke, give it a rest. This really isn't a difficult thing to do."

"But –"

"And if I don't have time, I have an assistant. My assistant has an assistant. There are interns constantly floating around, looking for something to do. This is a project we can do pro bono, for the good of a small town. Trust me, it will get favorable spin."

"I just hate to see you running yourself into the ground," he grumbled.

"Hey, do you know what I love?" she asked, deliberately changing the conversation. "I love that I can walk to town in a couple of minutes. I love that everyone else is out in the street, walking someplace too. I love that I know my neighbors, and the people in line at the post office. Move over, Oliver Wendell Douglas! _Small-town living is the place for me!"_ She sang the last line to the familiar tune from childhood reruns.

"You're cracked."

"Eh, maybe."

By then they were in front of her house, and they both stopped.

She stared at the steps to the porch, avoiding looking at him. "So…I've got a question for you, Luke."

"Sure. What?"

"The thing with your pal Alex. Is that what you were hoping would happen?"

"What would happen?"

She turned towards him then, but refused to meet his eyes. "That you'd throw me his way, and he'd take me off your hands."

He felt his eyes bugging out. _"What?!"_

She shrugged, putting on a show of disinterest. "Suddenly I'm pal Alex's problem, not yours."

"You think…that I –I see you as…some sort of a _problem?_ "

She nodded, almost seeming resigned. "Something like that, yeah. A thorn in your side. A pebble in your shoe. Burned French fries. Something that you'd rather not deal with, but you have to. And it would be a whole heck of a lot easier if I just faded off into the distance somewhere."

As usual, it took him a minute to process what she'd said; to make sure she was serious and not having some sort of fun at his expense. But as soon as her meaning was clear he went about setting her straight.

"No," he said. "No, no, no, _no_." By the last 'no' he was directly in front of her, and he didn't think twice about enveloping her in his arms. The manila folder of town events fell to the ground, but neither of them noticed. He held her for quite a while, occasionally repeating 'no.' He tucked the knit hat covering her aggressively straight hair under his chin, and softly rocked them back and forth. When he finally let her go, he gave in to his compulsion and gave her forehead a gentle kiss.

After they parted, she didn't seem to know where to look and neither did he.

She bent over, swept up the fallen folder, and busied herself with sticking the papers back inside of it. "Then, I don't get it, Luke. I don't understand why you keep acting the way you do."

He went over to her front steps and sat down dejectedly. "Would it help any if I said I don't get it, either?"

"No."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." He chaffed his hands together and wondered if she was warm enough. "I am…" He paused again, debating on exactly how to word his feelings. "I am incredibly attracted to you. Almost obscenely so."

"Really?" She leaned against the railing of the steps and looked at him with new interest. "That sounds promising. Let's hear more about that."

He barked out a laugh. "No, let's not. Let's just say that in one way or another, you take up a huge amount of my waking hours and I'm pretty sure all of my dreaming ones."

She thought that over and nodded. "Again, that seems to fall in my favor. And by the way…right back at'cha."

He nodded, momentarily distracted by the compliment. "Lorelai, the thing is, as much as I like you, as much as I'm attracted to you, I can't get past the feeling that you're something forbidden."

"Forbidden?" Her voice was frosty.

"OK, maybe that was a bad choice of words, but try to see it from my side, please? Think about it. I went to sleep one night, just a normal guy in a so-so marriage, and literally the next night my wife was walking out the door. There was no discussion; no build-up leading to it. Just boom, it was done. All it took was you stepping into the diner and my marriage was over."

"Hey!" Lorelai snapped.

Luke held up one hand, hoping to placate her for another few minutes. "Think about it. Think about the sequence of events. There was the bizarre day with the Lorelai that wasn't you. Then a most bewildering day in the park _with_ you, which left me…longing for something I couldn't even explain…and completely turned inside out. I knew Rachel and I had problems, but I never thought we'd end up divorced. I know it was for the best, I just…" He shook his head, not quite knowing how to explain it.

"You miss her," Lorelai stated bravely.

"In a way, I guess I do? But not in a wife-way, if that makes any sense. Just because she shared my life for quite a while, and now she's not a part of it anymore." He scowled at her. "Don't get any idea that I'm pining because I'm not."

"No, you only pine for that other Lorelai," she sneered.

He sighed tiredly. "I'm not even going to respond to that. You know how that day's messed with my head."

Lorelai sighed too, and seemed to offer a truce. "You miss the Rachel that had been your friend. I actually get that. I understand that part."

"What you maybe don't get is how abruptly it came about. I don't…weather change gracefully. It takes me a while to make peace with any sort of change. And with this, I had no period of adjustment. Rachel left, you entered…and that, combined with our very unorthodox first meeting, makes it feel…illicit." He shook his head. "Intellectually, I know that we did nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong in wanting –" He automatically edited himself, but then reconsidered and admitted it. "You. Wanting you. I know that, but at the same time, it still feels wrong, somehow."

She studied him, breathing hard. "Damn it," she growled. "I don't know how you can make me feel sorry for you, while at the same time I want to sever your head off with rusty garden shears. You drive me insane!"

"Welcome to my world," he muttered.

She motioned for him to shove over so there was room for her to sit down, too. "Is there a solution to this dilemma of yours? Or am I destined to forever wander the moors, screaming in vain for my Heathcliff?"

He let the unfamiliar reference sail over his head, as he did with so much of what sprang from her mouth. "Do you remember the advice you gave me, about what to say to Nicole?"

"Yeah?" She sounded wary.

"Well, I think that might be somewhat true. Maybe I'm not ready for anything else right now."

She sat so quietly that it unnerved him. "Not ready for anything? Or just not ready for anything with me?"

"Anything at all."

There was another long pause. "Do you…want time to play the field? I mean, is that part of the problem? You're a free man now – or will be, legally, soon – and you haven't had time to enjoy it? Like you said, you went straight from Rachel to…well, me?"

Luke snorted. "No."

"Because, I'd understand that, too. I wouldn't like it, but I'd understand."

"No. Come on, you know me better than that. Why would I want to do that, when you're right here?"

Lorelai exhaled, slowly. "You'll let me know, when I'm off the forbidden list?"

"You'll be the first to know."

"Could I ask you one more question, sort of a personal one?"

"I'm sure I'll regret this, but – yeah, go ahead."

"Right now, sitting here beside me, can you tell me how you feel?"

His thoughts pinged all over the place. "Um, glad that we had this talk, I guess?"

"No, that's not what I want to know. I mean, how do you _feel_ about me?"

He shrugged. "Glad that you don't seem to be mad at me anymore?"

"No, I mean…" She blew out a breath, frustrated. "I mean physically, how do you feel about me? For example, do you ever feel like kissing me?"

 _Kissing her._ Oh, if she only knew, he thought, stifling a wild desire to laugh. His thoughts grew hazy and disjointed as he allowed himself to imagine it. Not able to speak, he reached for her hand and held it tightly. Then, slowly, he turned towards her, and she leaned towards him as well. He put his other hand against her cheek, and then, inch by inch, their heads came together, until their foreheads were touching. Both of them were breathing erratically, and they were so close that their breath intermingled. Time seemed to halt as their hearts began to beat in rhythm. Minutes went by as they tested the limits of this new closeness. When they could stand it no longer, they just as slowly returned to their original positions on the step.

"Um, OK," Lorelai said, once she'd had a little bit of time to collect herself. Her voice shook. "That…was actually a very good answer."

Luke struggled to his feet and took a few steps away from her. He nodded, not confident that any words could do justice to what he'd just experienced with her.

"Maybe…with non-kisses like that…I could get used to being on the forbidden list." She gasped. "Hey, maybe that's how they _do_ kiss in the other universe!"

He couldn't help it, he laughed, and the laughter broke the remaining tension between them.

"What's funny?"

"You."

She pouted at him. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Trust me, it is. Not that many people can make me laugh." He watched her, and the smile left his face. "I'm sorry, Lorelai. I'm sorry that I keep doing idiotic things and hurting you. I'm sorry that I'm stuck in some weird place in my head that won't let me take the next step with you. Are you sure you're willing to keep a bookmark on that page in our book for a while longer?"

"Yeah, I'm good." She put a finger to her mouth and lightly traced around her lips. " _We're_ good," she concluded, giving him a saucy grin.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. He watched her for a moment, relishing her smile. "Now, can we talk about how ludicrous it is for you to volunteer your time for the crazy town festivals?"

"Oh, you!" She jumped up and gave him a strong shove. "Take your mind-blowing non-kisses and go home! Leave me alone so I can just enjoy what happened tonight!"

Chuckling, he did.

* * *

The rest of the week was different. Lorelai came into the diner daily, but she no longer sat at the counter. Often she grabbed something to go. She let him know that it was a busy week for her, and she wouldn't be spending much time at the Dragonfly. Without her endless conversations and the distractions at the building site, the days dragged.

He missed her. It was that simple.

It was also that complex.

Late on Sunday afternoon, sick of his own company, Luke drove through town. Specifically, he drove by Lorelai's house. He had some sort of vague idea that if she was home, he'd stop by to say hello, and if not, he'd drive to the Dragonfly to see if she was there.

Her car was parked in front of the garage, as was another one. It was black as well, but looked sleeker and more expensive, somehow. Luke wondered if it belonged to her parents.

For reasons he couldn't fully explain, he stopped in front of the house and walked up to the door. He was desperate enough to see her that he was willing to withstand the thinly-veiled disapproval of her parents.

He knocked.

The door was opened by a man who could barely take his attention away from his phone long enough to glance at the visitor. "Can I help you?" he asked, in a voice that let Luke know he had no intention of actually helping him.

Irritation immediately bubbled up. "Is Lorelai home?" Luke asked, trying not to let his annoyance show.

The man's dark brown eyes swept over him without interest and quickly returned to the phone. "She's upstairs. Getting dressed."

Luke sensed that the last comment was meant to sound suggestive, as if he was bragging. He ignored it, and instead stepped over the threshold without an invitation. "That's OK. I'll wait."

"Oh, are you the building guy? Tim? Tom?"

"No, I'm not Tom," Luke said, staying deliberately calm.

The man slipped the phone into the pocket of his sharp black suit, as Luke had finally piqued his interest. He studied him in detail, as Luke tried not to fume under the scrutiny. "Wait!" He snapped his fingers. "You're _the_ guy, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what –"

" _The_ guy. The one she's obsessed about. The coffee guy." He frowned. "Duke?"

"Luke," he corrected, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's right!" He nodded and snapped his fingers again, a habit Luke already hated. " _Luke._ The diner guy."

"That would be me," Luke said, trying to sound somewhat affable.

"Ah." He leaned back in his shiny black dress shoes, as if he'd just made an amazing observation. "She's mentioned you from time to time."

Luke decided he hated the suit, he hated the shoes, he hated the phone, he hated the perfectly calculated amount of dark stubble left on the man's face. He wondered how much it cost him – both in time and money – to keep the dark brown curls on his head in such a carefully-tousled state. He was pretty sure he hated everything about him, but he was determined to appear blandly uninterested.

"Oh, forgive my bad manners. I'm Jason Stiles." He thrust his hand out to Luke. "I'm a very, very, _very_ good friend of Lorelai's. We go way, way, _way_ back. Summer camps; family dinners. Our lives have been, well, _intimately_ connected for many years."

"Is that so?" Luke shook the proffered hand. "Strange she's never mentioned _you_ at all."

"Well, you know how it is. Sometimes discussing exes can be a little awkward."

"Huh," Luke said, still refusing to rise to the bait. "Do you think there's a chance you could let her know I'm here?"

"Oh, of course!" Jason took a couple of steps out of the entry, moving closer to the stairs leading to the second floor. "Lorelai! You have a gentleman caller down here!"

"Who?" Lorelai's voice came back.

"Duke. Uh, Luke." Jason gave him a not-at-all-apologetic smile and a wry wink. "Mr. Backwards-Baseball-Cap."

"Be nice, Digger!" Lorelai scolded.

"Digger!" he answered back, affronted. "You really want to wander into the land of childhood nicknames? Don't make me reveal yours in front of your esteemed visitor!"

"I'll be down in a minute!" she promised.

Jason turned back, another easy smile on his face. "There's a lot of teasing between us. That's what happens when you've been together for as long we have."

"Sure," Luke sighed, just wanting to get this over with.

Footsteps padded in the upstairs hallway, and soon Lorelai appeared at the top of the stairs, holding a pair of black high heels in her hands. She quickly descended, and slipped on the heels as soon as she reached the floor, holding onto the banister for balance. "Hi!" she greeted Luke, a little out of breath.

Her warm smile, directed only at him, easily thawed the icy front he'd been maintaining with Jason. "Hi," he replied, smiling back at her.

"He's the married one, right?" Jason asked, abruptly inserting himself into their hellos.

"He _was_ ," Lorelai said, frowning at Jason.

"Because, you know, if married guys turn you on, I could _totally_ do married."

Lorelai sighed as Luke glared back at her impertinent friend. "Jason, please. Just give me a minute here. Go do some more emails on your phone. You like that."

Instead, Jason decided to explain their evening itinerary. "A friend of ours is having a cocktail party. No one's seen Lorelai in ages. She's always so wrapped up in her little vanity project here in the boonies. I promised that I'd make sure she made an appearance tonight." He made a show of looking at his watch. "We should be heading out pretty soon."

"Don't worry, I won't keep you," Luke said, unable to stop his eyes from rolling.

"Did you need to talk to me about something?" Lorelai asked hopefully. She stepped closer to him.

He openly admired the short black dress she was wearing. "Was this one of the ball gowns I schlepped over here?"

"It was." She smoothed the silky material over her hips, looking somewhat smug. "Although I'm not sure a cocktail dress actually qualifies as a ball gown."

"Well, whatever you call it, you were right about bringing it along to the new place. It looks damn good on you."

"Yeah?" she asked, obviously pleased.

"Definitely." Feeling bolder due to Jason's annoying presence, he reached out and lightly fingered the ends of her hair. "Like the hair, too."

"Do you?" she said, her voice sliding into a flirty range.

"Oh, yeah. It's sort of wavy. Nice compromise between curly and straight."

She beamed at him. "I'll make a note to put this on the 'approved' list of hairstyles."

"Not on the forbidden list," Luke murmured thoughtfully.

"It's going to take a while to get to the party, since we're out here in the middle of nowhere." Jason waved his arm with the wristwatch around. "Chelsea's expecting us by 6, you know."

"I _know_ , Jason." Lorelai kept looking at Luke. "What did you want to see me about?"

He dipped his head her way, even though he knew it was impossible to keep their conversation private, with Jason just a couple of feet away. "I know you've had a busy week, and haven't been able to get to the Dragonfly as much as you'd like. I was just going to offer to run over and check on things, if that would help you. Just say the word if there's anything I can do."

"You have time yet today?"

"Sure," he said, nodding.

"Then, yes." She walked over the desk and found her purse. She pulled out some keys and a notepad, which she brought over to Luke. "You know what all the keys are for, and the top things on the list are the main things I'm concerned about."

Luke glanced at her notes. "Right, the floor leading into the kitchen. And the railing at the turn in the stairs. Yeah, I know what's going on with all of this. I'll check and see what they got done."

"Thanks. Call me tonight and let me know, OK?"

"We might be fairly late," Jason put in.

"Not that late," Lorelai countered. "And I'll get the keys from you in the morning, at breakfast."

Luke gave Jason an unapologetic smile of his own. "I always feed her breakfast now."

"Well, sure. After all, you've got the coffee," Jason said, stopping just short of sneering.

"I'll be on my way," Luke said with a faux graciousness. "You two have a great time with your friends."

"Pleasure meeting you, Duke. Uh, Luke," Jason said, as Lorelai walked Luke to the door.

Luke was surprised when Lorelai stepped out onto the porch with him. She quickly pulled the door shut behind her. "Jason loves to exaggerate," she said. "It's his native tongue."

"Yeah, I figured," Luke said, shrugging. "He seems like the type."

"I can only imagine what he told you. The facts are that we've known each other since childhood and we _did_ try dating for a few months, a couple of years ago. It didn't work out. At all."

"OK."

"It was all sorts of awkward. It was like we knew each other too well, and at the same time, not well enough. We find each other amusing, but that's not enough for a real relationship. Plus, he and my dad were in business together at the time, which made things even weirder."

"Um, OK –"

"My mother can't stand him," she blurted out.

Luke found himself chuckling. "Sounds like your mother and I might have something in common after all."

Lorelai touched his arm. "The main thing I want you to know is that there's no shared book between us. Never was, never will be. The friendship I have with Jason will never have a page in it like that. It's not like that at all."

"Lorelai, it's fine. I understand. We're good. Go enjoy a night out with your friends. You certainly deserve it."

She looked glum. "I'd rather stay here and go to the Dragonfly with you."

"Nah. Are you kidding? Go show off that dress. Those shoes. That hair." Smiling, he flicked the ends of her hair again. "Now, get going. I'll see you at breakfast."

"And you'll call me tonight," she reminded him.

"I'll call you tonight. Get inside before you freeze." He walked over to the steps. "Oh, and tell 'Digger' good-bye from me."

Lorelai giggled. "I'll tell him, 'Duke!'"

* * *

 **Author's Chat** : Hey, gang, sorry it took so long to get this one written! I've had a real shortage of writing time lately. This one was put together with a spare hour here, a couple of minutes there. It's been a real challenge to piece it together and get it finished. I can't wait to get started on the next chapter, though! It's one I've been looking forward to for months, now!

I'm happy that many of you are picking up on the fact that these characters are subtly different from the show. This Lorelai is capable and confident, but not as tough as the Lorelai in the show, because she hasn't experienced all of those years of being a broke, harried single mom. She's more vulnerable because she's been more protected. She was able to deal with her parents with more maturity, and it took the arguments over the Dragonfly to finally cause a rift between them. Thanks for sharing your insights!

I'm trying to at least nod at some of the issues the show threw at them, although again, these characters developed differently and are able to deal with their troubles a little differently as well. I looked up all of the info about Alex and Joe to make sure I got it right, and was shocked to see that Alex _did_ have a last name, which was Lesman. Hee, Lesman. Honest. I guess if we had known that, we would have known he wasn't going to be a contender for very long!

As always, thanks for your support!


	9. Baby Talk

Someone knocked on the door to his apartment, and Luke pushed up off the couch and grudgingly started across the room to answer it. He figured it was Caesar, bringing up the day's receipts, but usually Caesar's heavy footsteps as he traipsed up the stairs announced that he was on the way. He was surprised – yet not surprised – to see a much different silhouette through the frosted glass door.

He opened the door, and Lorelai immediately struck a rock'n'roll pose. _"They say it's your birthday!"_ she belted out. With a pleased grin, she held out a gift bag to him.

Luke took the proffered bag from her and studied the 3-D cake and candles stuck to the front of it. "How'd you know?"

"You're the one who keeps telling me this is a small town, Luke. No secrets. Lots of people know it's your birthday today."

"Yeah, guess so," he conceded, with a small sigh. He moved the bag from one hand to another.

"Everything OK?" Lorelai sounded concerned. Obviously she'd noted his unusual lethargy.

"Me? Sure," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Um, OK. If you say so." She fiddled uneasily with the strap to her purse. "Sorry if I'm interrupting something. You haven't been downstairs all day, and I wanted to tell you happy birthday. So, mission accomplished. I'll get out of your hair now."

That snapped him out of his gloomy mood. "No, don't go. Sorry. Come on in." He stepped to the side so she could enter.

She looked curiously around the apartment. "So this is your crib, huh?" she asked, placing her purse on the kitchen table. "No wonder you thought my house was plenty big enough. There's not much square footage up here at all, unless you're hiding some extra rooms on the other side of the wall. How'd you and Rachel cohabitate for four long years? You two must have been practically on top of each –" Abruptly, she cut herself off, groaning at what she'd almost said. "Never mind. Just ignore all of that."

For the first time all day, Luke smiled. "No way am I giving that a pass. In fact, I think I'll go write it down with the time and date, so that I can refer to it the next time you tease me about something moronic I've said."

"Moronic might be a little strong. Let's just say…unintentionally suggestive."

"Unintentional? If true, that's a first."

"Maybe just awkwardly phrased. Sorry."

"OK, I think we've apologized to each other enough for now. Have a seat." He plopped back down on the couch, and motioned for her to sit anywhere.

She took the easy chair across from the sofa. Her eyes still watched him carefully for signs that would explain his mood. "Aren't you going to open your present?"

"Oh, sure." He made an effort to look inside of it, but his fingers refused to dig through the shredded tissue paper.

"OK, Birthday Boy, spill. What's wrong? Is it one of those milestone birthdays? You're feeling the big numbers?" She was pretending to tease him, but he could hear the genuine worry in her voice.

"Yeah, that's it exactly. It's all downhill from here." He attempted a smile. "Next stop, Pine Hills nursing home."

"Nothing to look forward to except mushed-up peas and carrots." She couldn't carry off her smile, either. "Just to continue the awkward bringing up of things I should probably leave alone, are you missing Rachel today? Is that it? I suspect it feels weird, not to celebrate with her."

"Maybe a little, I guess?" He thought back on previous birthdays. "If anything, it was my mom who loved birthdays. She made sure there was always a huge cake and at least three different flavors of ice cream, and a big banner across the front porch, if the weather was nice enough. She liked to get those…what d'ya call 'ems…" He tried to illustrate with hand gestures. "They're cardboard tubes, and you pull a string, and they make a popping noise?"

"Poppers?" Lorelai suggested, with a sly smile.

Luke gave a slight chuckle. "OK, that makes sense. She also always went overboard on the gifts. She said it was the one day of the year she was allowed to spoil us."

"Well, yeah. No wonder you miss birthdays like that." Lorelai looked sympathetic. "How long has she been gone?"

"It's been…Geez, I guess it's been three years already." Luke shook his head over the way time slipped past. "We lost my dad a couple of years before that. This will probably sound nuts, but I swear, once she thought I was settled with Rachel, it was like she gave herself permission to slip away to join him." He tried to clear the sudden lump out of his throat.

"Theirs must have been a happy marriage."

"Definitely." Luke smiled, thinking about his parents. "One of those real love stories. They hated being apart. They even made going to the grocery store together seem like a date."

"That's beautiful, Luke." Her eyes looked suspiciously misty. "Really. I can't even poke fun at that."

"After growing up with that example, I guess that's how I knew that what Rachel and I had didn't begin to stack up."

Lorelai nodded in understanding. "So is lack of family what's got you down?"

Luke fingered the gift bag again, and made the decision to tell her everything. "No. Sure, that adds a little sorrow to the day, but the real issue is…" He filled his lungs with air. "I have a niece."

"You do? I don't think I knew that."

"No, that's not – I mean, as of today, I have a niece. She was born today."

"Today! On your birthday?"

Luke pressed his lips together and nodded.

"Oh my God! What a birthday present! Luke, that's fantastic!" Lorelai bounded out of the chair and headed his way, but halted after a step. "Is it OK if I give you a hug for that?"

"That would be nice, truthfully." He stood up, ready to receive her affectionate congratulations.

She had on the flat slipper-boots again, so she had to go up on her tiptoes to be able to throw her arms around his neck and give him a tight squeeze. She turned her head and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, a kiss so fleeting that Luke thought he might have only imagined it. "Happy birthday, Uncle Luke."

"Thanks." He relaxed in her arms for a brief interlude, trying to judge at what point he needed to pull away. He didn't want the hug to deteriorate into awkwardness, or to tip the other way into something sensual. At least, he didn't _think_ that's what he wanted.

She released him. Reluctantly, or so it seemed. She sat down on the couch next to him. "So tell. What are the deets?"

"The deets?"

"Yeah, weight, height…all that stuff the parents can't wait to tell you."

"Oh." Luke turned to the table beside the couch, where he'd scribbled some notes during the early morning phone call. "She was over seven pounds. Seven pounds, eight ounces." Luke frowned, suddenly concerned. "That's a good size, isn't it?"

"I think anything over five is good to go," Lorelai reassured him.

"And she's got quite a bit of hair. Dark. Liz says just like –" He cut himself off, the lump back with a vengeance.

"Hey." She leaned over and put a gentle hand on his knee. "What is it?"

He shook his head a couple of times, swallowing hard.

"Oh, no." Lorelai looked alarmed. "Is the baby not OK? Is the mom not OK?"

"No, they're fine," Luke managed to croak out. "They're both fine."

Lorelai took a deep breath of relief. "Well, that's good, right?"

He nodded, but not convincingly.

"Luke, I wish you'd just tell me what's going on. Why is this upsetting you so much?"

"Liz…my sister…she's Jess's mom." Her hand gripped his knee a little firmer, letting him know that she understood the implications. "I haven't – when she called this morning…That was the first time I'd talked to her since the day of his funeral."

"Wow, I didn't realize that you'd had such a falling out."

He closed his eyes. "I couldn't deal with her. I just couldn't."

"That's perfectly acceptable. Nobody says you have to." She began to pat his knee softly. "But now that there's a birthday niece, maybe you want to give it a try again?"

"I do," he said tiredly. He leaned his head against the back of the sofa. "I didn't even know she was pregnant. She married her idiot boyfriend and immediately got pregnant."

"That's a lot to take in, all at once. No wonder you're rattled."

"I'm not rattled. This is just such a typical Liz move, to think that she can have a new baby and get a do-over. Jess? Who cares? That's all in the past. On to the next kid, who I'm sure she'll screw up too!"

"Luke, come on. That can't be what she's thinking."

He laughed, bitterly. "You don't know Liz. That's exactly what she's thinking!"

Lorelai studied him soberly. "You're too nice to have a sister that terrible."

He snorted at that. "Maybe I'm not as nice as you think I am."

"Or maybe she's like your exact opposite or something. What do I know? I don't have any siblings, so I don't have any idea how it works. Do you have other sisters? Or brothers?"

"No, she's it. Thank God."

"Does she live close by?"

"No, a couple of hours away. Again, thank God."

"In any case, it was nice she called you, in spite of the estrangement, to let you know. Right?"

"Yeah. That was thoughtful," he had to admit.

"Does the baby have a name?"

"Oh, does she ever. Picked out by my insane brother-in-law," he sneered. "I was so much happier before I knew I was actually related to the imbecile."

"And her name is?" Lorelai prompted, trying to lead him down a different path.

Luke sighed. "Doula."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No, you heard me right. Doula."

Lorelai wrinkled her forehead. "Isn't that what you call a woman who helps with a birth? Like a midwife?"

"Yes. Yes, it certainly is."

"Um…OK. And they named her that because…?"

"Because my unbelievably stupid brother-in-law thought that was the name of the woman helping with the birth. He thought it was a beautiful name. He wanted to honor her by giving their daughter her name."

Lorelai pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. "He did not!"

"Oh yes, he did. And my sister – who should know better – went along with it. You see now what I'm up against?"

Lorelai giggled madly. "Oh, my God! That poor baby!"

"I'm sure that will only be the first in a lifetime of humiliations brought about by her parents."

She made a real effort to stop her laughter. "What about a middle name?"

Luke groaned. "Oh, it's a doozy, too."

"Let's hear it. I'm ready." She made a show of holding onto the couch, getting prepared.

He sighed, readying himself to say it. "Lucinda."

"Lucinda?" Lorelai almost looked disappointed. "That's not terrible. She can go by Lucy if she wants, when she gets old enough to decide for herself."

"Oh, but wait until you hear why they chose that name," he said grimly.

"I'm all ears."

"Because she was born on my birthday."

"Huh?"

"They think it's the girl version of Luke."

Lorelai burst out laughing again, but soon stopped, looking contemplative. "OK, maybe I'm stupid too, but what _is_ the feminine of Luke? Is there one?"

"I don't know, but if my sister's scorecard is any guide, I'm guessing it's not Lucinda."

"Aww, Luke, that's still a sweet gesture on her part, no matter how misguided."

"Yeah, maybe so," he conceded. "I'm just sorry that the poor kid is going to be saddled with it her whole life."

Lorelai chuckled a little bit more. "So what now? You'll make the effort to meet little Doula Lucinda?"

"Yes," he grumbled, knowing he could never convince himself to ignore the new member of the family. "What choice do I have?"

She leaned towards him again and drummed her fingers lightly against his leg. "You want company?"

His focus zoomed to her. "What?"

"Would it help, if I came along?"

For the third time, he felt himself choking up. He reached for her hand and held it tightly. "You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. Look, I know you're perfectly capable of visiting on your own, but sometimes knowing you have back-up makes the biggest difference."

"Lorelai, this trip will take a whole day. You don't have that kind of time in your schedule. No way could I ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering. Don't worry about my schedule. I'll take a sick day, if I have to. I haven't had time off since the day my body was taken over by aliens. It'd be kinda nice to have one I actually remember this time."

Luke brought his other hand over and wrapped it around hers too. "I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," she prompted, grinning again.

"Then…yes. Thank you." He took quick stock of his feelings. "You know what? Already I'm not dreading the trip as much."

"And I don't have to do the actual family reunion part of it. I don't want to butt in. You can just drop me off at a mall or someplace while you go see them."

"No way. If I have to suffer through T.J., so do you."

"T.J.?"

"The escaped mental patient my sister married."

"Oh," Lorelai giggled. "OK, we'll play that by ear when we get there. Now, the really important question: what about a present?"

"Right." He dropped her hands and reached for the gift bag.

"Not that present!" She snatched the bag away from him. "A present for the baby!"

Luke sighed. He hated all forms of shopping, and especially shopping to find appropriate gifts. "I guess I have to, don't I? What do you get a baby?"

"Well, according to my father, you go out and buy a piece of property. Put Doula's name on it. Come on, Luke, get with the program!"

"Yeah, I don't think that's happening."

"Fine, let's just add some shopping time into our travel day. We'll stop at a BabiesRUs along the way and look at her registry."

"Babies…what?"

"Never mind." Lorelai patted his knee again. "I'll guide you through it."

"Again, thank you."

"Now that that's settled…" She picked his gift back up and dropped it into his lap. "Your turn!"

"You didn't need to do this," he dutifully protested, beginning to sift through the tissue paper.

"Yeah, I kinda did. You've been such a big help to me. Coffee provider, building advisor, number one hand-holder." She made a fist and bumped it against his hand. "I wanted to do something to let you know how much I appreciate having you around."

Luke finally liberated the gift from the bag. "It's a hat," he said flatly.

"Yes it is! I've noticed you have something of a hat fetish. Partners well with the flannel thing you've got going on."

"I have to wear something on my head in the diner."

She cocked her head to one side. "Then why do you wear it everywhere else, too?"

"Because I forget to take it off."

"Well, now you'll have a prettier one to wear."

"I don't care about pretty."

"Some of the rest of us do. Now let's see how I did." She grabbed the deep blue hat from his hand and put it up against his face. She eyed him critically. "Oh yeah, I nailed it. Hello, Mr. Blue Eyes," she cooed.

"Are you serious? You picked this out because of my –" Too appalled for words, he pointed towards his eyes.

"You bet I did."

"Unbelievable."

"Try it on."

"No."

"Come on. I want to see the whole effect."

He stopped his protest and regarded her. "You won't leave me alone until I do this, will you?"

A wide grin answered him. "Luke Danes, you've figured me out. I guess it's true, with old age does come wisdom."

"Geez," he muttered. He turned the hat over, to adjust the band. "Wait – there's something tucked inside here."

"There is?" Lorelai gasped, pretending to be shocked. "Whatever could it be?"

He freed the small envelope and warily opened it. "What is this?" he asked, scanning the printed card. A small logo in the bottom right corner made him go still. Two red socks. In a circle that said 'Boston.'

"Lorelai?" he asked quietly, not wanting to assume anything.

"I've gathered that you like baseball. Which is the game with the little white ball that is _not_ golf. And in particular, I've noticed that this is the team you seem to be most passionate about."

He nodded, still staring at the piece of cardstock in his hands.

"So this is a voucher for a couple of tickets. Sorry, it's for a game on a particular date." She leaned forward slightly so that she could point out that detail. "But all you'll have to do is stop at the will-call window – or whatever they call it in sports – and pick them up." She gave him a grim smile. "You could take Alex with you."

He ignored her suggestion. "I can't accept this, Lorelai. Geez, I know what tickets cost! This is way too much."

She worried her lips for a minute. "This is where it gets tricky."

"Tricky?" He glanced at the voucher again. "What? You stole it or something?"

"Not…exactly."

His mouth dropped open. "Are you kidding me?!" he yelped.

"Now calm down. It's not like I committed a felony or anything."

"Explain. _Immediately_ ," he demanded.

She snapped her fingers, landing on a way to clarify. "Remember all of my ball gowns?"

"How in the – OK, fine, yes. I know about your fancy dresses! How does that connect to this?"

She nodded. "I have all of those fancy duds because there are always charity fund raiser things being held, and I've gone to more of them than I can count, either because of work obligations or because my mother insisted I come along to hers. At every event, there are almost always things being auctioned off to raise money for some cause or another. Just think of it like the festivals here in the town square, only the fried things on sticks cost a couple of hundred dollars apiece to buy them."

"Geez," he muttered again.

"And my mom and dad and Jason are always bidding on the things, because that's what they're expected to do, and if they win any of them, lots of times they pass them on to clients." She shrugged. "You know how it goes."

"No," Luke said coolly. "No, I don't."

"Well trust me, it's a 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' kind of world out there."

He shook the voucher in front of her face. "That still doesn't explain how you got this!"

"Well, I was looking through Jason's hoard o'bribes and I saw this, and asked if I could have it, and he said yes. So see, not stolen at all! Totally on the up and up!"

He fingered the card gingerly. "This came from Jason?"

"Only in the most peripheral sense."

"But he paid for it."

"He made a donation for a cause, and this was a perk for the donation. He didn't care about it, Luke. He was never going to use it. He was going to pass it on to someone else anyway."

"But still…"

"Luke. Hear me out." Lorelai turned sideways on the couch and tucked her legs up under her, to be able to plead her case better. "I knew you wouldn't like it if I spent a bunch of money on you, but I really wanted to find a gift that you'd be crazy about. I wanted to give you something that let you know how very, very much I love having you in my life. Doing something like this was the only way I could think to satisfy all of those requirements. Please accept it as a heartfelt gift of appreciation from me," she implored earnestly.

He turned the card over in his hands. "Does Jason know you're giving this to me?"

"No," she said emphatically.

"Then…I'll accept it, but only on one condition."

"What?" she sighed, defeated.

"You make sure Jason knows you gave it to me."

Her head shot up. "What?"

Luke grinned devilishly. "I want Digger to know his tickets went to me. It will make sitting in those seats just a little bit sweeter."

There was a moment of stunned silence from Lorelai. Then she roared with laughter and launched herself across the couch to him, falling against his chest as she continued to laugh hysterically. "Oh, God. You scoundrel!" she chastised him, lightly punching his arm. She returned to her spot and wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "I can't believe you said that!"

"Well, as I pointed out earlier, maybe I'm not as nice as you think I am."

She looked at him fondly. "I think you're the best," she said simply.

"Nah." He looked down, suddenly embarrassed by her admiration. "Oh hey, I'm being a rude host. Do you want something to drink? I know I've got a couple of beers in the fridge. I might even be able to dig out some cheese and crackers to go with."

"What? No birthday cake?"

"No. My plan was to ignore the whole thing if possible."

"Well, if you had cake…" She got to her feet. "Thanks for the offer, but I should really get going. I need to catch up on a little work for my real job before I go to bed tonight."

Luke glanced at the clock and registered how late it was. "Yeah, you'd better get to it, then." He got up too, hating to think about her adding a couple of more hours to her already long day. "Thanks for everything, Lorelai. Not just the gifts – for helping me through this thing with my sister, too. I can't thank you enough."

"My pleasure. Let me know when you want to go and I'll get my schedule arranged. You should probably check first to see when Liz might feel like visitors."

"Will do."

At the apartment door, she leaned in for another hug. "Happy birthday, Uncle Luke," she murmured once again.

This time, for the few moments she was in his arms, a completely different line of thinking zipped through his brain. Here they were, together in his apartment, fairly late at night. They were alone. How stupid was he, to keep denying the intense attraction between the two of them? And sweet Jesus…she felt _so_ good, pressed against him the way she was. One of his hands slid up her spine, underneath her wave of hair. He caressed the back of her neck, drinking in the scent of cinnamon and citrus that seemed to emanate from her skin. He opened his mouth, willing himself to make the suggestion that would change everything.

 _Stay,_ he imagined himself saying. _Why don't you stay the night here with me?_

However, she pulled away at just that moment, smiling pensively. "I'm glad I barged in on you tonight. I'm glad I got to celebrate with you a little bit."

"Me too," he sighed. _Just not the sort of celebration he now wanted_. He tried to get back into a chivalrous frame of mind. Stoically, he told himself it was for the best. "Um, let me walk you downstairs. Caesar's probably got everything locked up by now."

"I'll see you for breakfast, Old Man," she teased him, as he unlocked the diner's door.

"Unless I do end up drinking all of the beers in the fridge," he threatened, cranky due to her imminent departure.

"You'd never do that," she refuted confidently. "Not you! You are too responsible and sensible to go on a birthday drinking binge."

"Of course I am," he muttered, and watched in regret as she disappeared down the street.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Remember last time, when I said I couldn't wait to write the next chapter? Well, this isn't it. Or at least, it's not all of it. My beloved chapter was beginning to look more like a novel, so I lopped off this first part as a stand-alone. Consider it as an introduction, or Part 1, to the good stuff (I hope) that's still to come. Also, I'm sure you noticed that I really messed with the canon here in regard to Luke's parents. Since Lorelai hasn't had such a traumatic relationship with her parents, I thought it would be nice if Luke's family background wasn't filled with as much angst, either. Gives them more of a level playing field on which to build their own relationship. I picture Luke's mom as being a soothing influence on his personality over the years. Thanks for your indulgence as I piece this universe together with odds and ends from the show, lines from some of my other stories, and the new crazy ideas that pop up in my brain!

Now, off to finish Part 2...


	10. Aurora Borealis, Baby!

Lorelai walked up to the counter and rapped her knuckles against the surface of it. "Ready?"

Luke took a last look around the diner, trying not to let the sense of doom hanging over his head ruin their trip. "Ready," he sighed, and grabbed his leather jacket from a hook by the kitchen door.

"Wow. You look nice," Lorelai commented. Her voice was approving, but also slightly surprised.

He looked down at his outfit as he pushed his arms through the jacket sleeves. "Just jeans and a shirt."

" _Nice_ jeans," she clarified. "Button-down shirt. Sharp jacket." She pointed to his head. "No hat. Must be a red-letter day."

He shrugged. "So I want to make a good impression. It's been quite a while since I've seen her."

"No doubt she'll be proud of her brother." Frowning, Lorelai glanced at her own outfit. "Maybe I should have dressed up more."

"Are you serious, Cinderella? You could dress in rags and still be the most beautiful woman in the room."

She regarded him critically. "Are you teasing me?"

"Hardly," he scoffed.

Her cheeks flushed as she cast her eyes downward, a pleased smile on her mouth. "I didn't realize that's what you thought."

He stepped closer to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and waited for her to look at him. "Then you haven't been paying attention," he informed her.

"Well…thanks," she said softly, staring into his eyes.

"You're welcome," he said, just as softly. It took a while for his brain to send out the message to take his hands from her shoulders and remove himself from her personal space.

"Let's get going," Lorelai suggested. She started for the front door, while Luke headed to the back hallway.

"My truck's parked in the alley," he informed her, pointing.

"Hmm, yeah, let's not," Lorelai countered. "I mean, your truck's great and all, but I think my car's a little more comfortable for a long trip."

He paused, then reluctantly headed towards her. "You're sure?"

"Absolutely." They exited the diner and walked down the sidewalk towards her car. "Unless you're one of those guys who can't stand to let a woman drive him around," she theorized.

"No, I think my fragile male ego is OK with that." He heard the locks release and opened the passenger door. The seat was already set to accommodate his long legs. "One of the perks of being with a tall woman," he observed, reaching for the seatbelt.

"What is?" She was buckling hers, too.

"Not having my knees touch my chin." He motioned at the space in front of him.

She chuckled. "Well, the seats can be adjusted individually, so you're not locked into my preference. We're past the age of bench seats."

"Yeah, I know, but it feels weird if the driver's hunched up over the wheel, and you're practically in the back seat."

"True." Lorelai pulled out into the street. "Rachel is tall, isn't she?"

"Pretty tall, I guess. Not as tall as you are, I don't think."

"Is that bad?"

"Is what bad?"

"That I'm as tall as I am."

"Are you kidding?" he said. _With the legs you've got?_ was his auxiliary thought, but he managed not to say it out loud.

"Guys seem to like short girls, even if they're tall themselves. They like them tiny and cuddly, I guess. I've had guys turn tail and run once they've seen me stand up."

Luke snorted disparagingly. "Their loss."

Lorelai smiled out of the driver's side window. "OK, so you think I'm beautiful and don't mind my height. Wow, this trip's been remarkably informative already." She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "How much more can I wheedle out of you in three hours' time?"

"Knowing you?" Luke settled back in his seat, feeling relaxed and content in her company. In fact, he couldn't think of anyone he'd rather take along on a trip. "Probably everything."

"Challenge accepted!" she said with a big grin. She reached for her sunglasses and expertly merged into the highway traffic.

* * *

"Luke?" A gentle hand caressed his hair and the side of his face. "Come on, Pretty Boy, wake up," a sweet voice cajoled him.

"Mmm." He turned his face into the hand, nuzzling it. The last thing he wanted to do was wake up.

The hand was abruptly snatched away, and his face smacked leather upholstery. "Luke, wake up," Lorelai said in a no-nonsense tone.

He scrambled to sit up, blinking sleep away. "Sorry." He rubbed at his face, especially the side that still smarted from hitting the seat. "Where are we?"

"About forty-five miles away from your sister's."

"Sorry," Luke said again, not sure if he was apologizing for falling asleep on the drive or for the hand nuzzles. "Are you ready for a break? Want me to drive now?"

"Since you still look about half-asleep, I don't think you and driving are a good match at the moment." She smiled, and he figured that meant all was forgiven. "No, I stopped because there's a BabiesRUs at this exit." She pointed through the windshield at the big cheerful building in front of them.

He squinted at it, then looked around the shopping center. "You're sure we can find something here?"

"Oh, yeah. That won't be an issue," Lorelai said, chuckling at his naiveté. She swung open her door. "Come on, let's go."

Once inside, she led him to a bank of three machines with built-in screens.

"Are these ATMs?"

"No, these are the gift registries. We can find out what Liz wants for the baby."

"How do we do that?"

"We put in her name and her city, and hopefully it pops right up." Lorelai brought up the screen and began typing. "Um, except that I don't know much of the pertinent information. Here, you take over."

"I have no idea what last name she might be using now," he muttered, using one finger to slowly type letters on the screen.

"Go ahead and hit 'enter.' Maybe there's enough there to get us a match."

A list of ten names materialized on the screen. "That one," Luke said, pointing at the third one. "That's her."

"Excellent." Lorelai pushed the "print" button, and soon papers began to feed into a tray in the middle of the machine.

"That's a lot of stuff!" Luke protested as the printing continued.

"Well, some of it has already been purchased." She showed him the notations underneath various items. "That's what's nice about this, you can see what they've already received, so you don't duplicate. When we check out, they'll update her list to reflect whatever we buy."

"That's smart," he admitted grudgingly. "How do you know about all of this?"

"Oh, there's always a baby shower," Lorelai said wearily. "Or a wedding shower. Or a housewarming. At least these registry things make it a lot easier."

"I thought you liked shopping."

"I do, for myself." She cut herself off and looked at him seriously. "And I don't mind doing this today, for your sister. It's just sometimes I get tired of constantly being expected to fulfill the social obligation thing. It's fine when you actually know the recipient, but it's a pain when it's for a cousin you barely remember, or it's for Timmy's second wedding or something, and maybe you've only bumped into Timmy once or twice in the breakroom at work."

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like fun. Or fair," Luke agreed with a grimace.

"So Uncle Moneybags, what's our budget for today?"

"Geez, I don't know." He looked blankly at the rows and rows of baby things. "How much does this stuff cost? I mean, I want to get her something nice."

Lorelai nodded. "OK, my idea is that we get one thing that's practical and functional, and then something else that's just fun." She'd been scanning through the sheets, and now she pointed an item out to him. "They've asked for a highchair, and no one's gotten it yet, because it's one of the higher-priced things. But yet it's something they'll use every day, once she's a little bit older. It might be nice for them to see it and remember it came from you when they do. How do you feel about that?"

"Yeah, that's great," he agreed, not put off by the price tag. He was also encouraged to think that their shopping might be done so quickly.

"And then, maybe we could pick out some bibs to go with it, or some toddler plates and silverware, or something like that."

"Sounds good," Luke agreed. Once again he looked at the miles of aisles, wondering where they could find such things.

Lorelai came to rescue yet again. She showed him the location column on the list. "Looks like we head for aisle 45."

"This is my kind of shopping," Luke stated. "No fuss, no confusion. Every store should be like this."

He easily picked up one of the boxed highchairs stacked beside the display and slid it underneath the shopping cart. They – meaning Lorelai – then decided on a set of unbreakable dishes with Sesame Street characters on them. She also found a 6-pack of very sensible bibs and another set with all sorts of lace and ruffles on them. "For going out," she explained.

"Sure," Luke shrugged, pretending he understood.

The next time he turned around a very large pink elephant in a ballerina tutu was riding in the shopping cart. "What's this?" he wanted to know.

Lorelai put a hand to her mouth and gasped, pretending to be shocked. "Why, Miss Elephant! Did you want to come meet Doula, too?"

"Isn't this thing bigger than the baby?"

"Oh, but Luke!" She took his hand and rubbed it against the elephant's trunk. "Isn't it soft? Feel." She moved his hand up to the pachyderm's head. "Aww. All soft and cozy. How can you resist?"

He tried to sound grouchy, but he just couldn't. "Sure, bring the elephant. The more the merrier, right?"

Lorelai giggled, delighted at his easy capitulation. She started to thread the way up to the front of the store. They'd almost made it to the cash registers when she darted away.

"Hey, where are you…"

She didn't go far. With Christmas just over a month away, holiday clothing had taken over a large section of the store. Lorelai jumped into the midst of the display, her fingers smoothing over the tiny outfits. Luke watched her, unable to identify the different emotions he saw playing over her face, but they held him transfixed, all the same. For once he was in no hurry to leave a store.

When she rejoined him, she held a minuscule blue velvet dress, a white sweater with sparkly buttons, snowflake-sprigged tights, and the smallest pair of black shoes he'd ever seen.

"These are from me," she said defensively, holding them to her tightly. As if he was going to take them away from her or something.

"Those seem festive," he said neutrally. He put his little finger against one of the shoes, using that method to measure it. "You're sure these will fit her?"

"These are the three-month size, so they should." She suddenly looked at him in slight alarm. "Right? She was just born, and Christmas is next month, so she should fit in them, shouldn't she?"

"You're asking the wrong person," he reminded her. "I know nothing about babies."

"I don't either," she said, sounding worried. "All I do is shop from the gift list." She stared at the items of clothing for a moment. "Oh well, I'll ask for a gift receipt, just in case."

Luke began to push the loaded cart to the checkout line, but Lorelai veered off yet again. "Let's grab some gift bags and a big bow for the highchair box."

"All right," he sighed, finally beginning to lose patience with the shopping experience. Luckily, once they did make it to the checkout, the cashier scanned their purchases swiftly and they were back out to the car in no time. Lorelai tucked everything into the gift bags, and then Luke had to figure out how to fit it all into the car.

When he got into the passenger seat, he discovered the pink elephant perched on the console between the seats. "Really?"

Lorelai grinned but didn't respond. She started the car.

"Can you even drive with this thing sitting here?"

"Miss Elephant will help me navigate, if needed. She'll read the map, in case you fall asleep again."

"I'm not going to fall asleep again," he muttered. Now that they were getting closer to the destination, he was beginning to feel nervous. Definitely, he would not be falling asleep.

Preoccupied by his own anxieties, he didn't notice that Lorelai's attention was similarly elsewhere.

"Chris has a kid," she suddenly announced from out of nowhere.

"What?" He shook his head, thinking that somehow he _had_ dozed off again and missed the start of the conversation.

"Christopher. He has a…" She paused long enough to take a deep breath. "A daughter. A little girl. She's adorable," she said insistently, as if he was going to disagree.

"Christopher," he repeated. " _Your_ Christopher?"

"He's not _my_ Christopher anymore, but yeah. Him."

Luke still felt like he was floundering to get back on track. "How did that happen?"

Lorelai smirked, grimly. "The usual way, I imagine."

"You know what I mean."

"I told you, we were on and off, on and off, for a lot of years. During one of the 'off' times, he met this woman, Sherry. They fell for each other, hard, and for a while, it seemed like the real thing. I was dating someone else at the time, too, so it didn't seem too odd. But then it went on, and on…and I started to realize...this might be it. And Chris kept insisting that I meet her. It was important to him that I get to know her. To give my stamp of approval, I guess."

"And did you? Meet her, approve of her?"

"Yeah, a couple of times. She is…relentlessly perky. Extremely organized. She must be borderline OCD, she's so obsessed with order in everything. She'd drive me nuts in a day or less. But she seemed good for Chris. He became a functioning adult for the first time ever. He was holding down a job. They moved in together. He seemed really committed to the relationship. He even bought a grown-up car."

"What's a grown-up car?" Luke wondered.

"A Volvo." She wrinkled her nose, and Luke chuckled.

"Anyway, this went on for six months, eight months, and then he turned up at my place one day. Things were beginning to sour. Her alphabetizing and over-scheduling were finally beginning to get to him. He wasn't sure what to do. The next weekend, he turned up again. They'd talked, and come to the conclusion that they were probably done. We…" She sighed, staring through the windshield at the road ahead. "We fell back into our usual pattern."

"Ah," was the only comment Luke permitted himself.

"A few days later, he got a phone call. Sherry's pregnant."

"Whoa."

"Yeah." She sighed again. "He immediately decided he was going back, but he kept dithering about me."

Luke didn't like the sound of that. "And by dithering, you mean…?"

"He seemed to think that he could figure out a way to keep both of us."

"Really," Luke said, not caring if he sounded judgmental. "How'd that work out?"

"I informed him that was not an option."

"Good for you." His dry tone didn't give away how anxious he'd been to hear her reply. "How'd it end up?"

"They stayed together, and Georgia was born."

"They married?"

"No, Sherry was appalled at the idea of being a fat bride. She decided they'd wait until after the birth, until she got her figure back, but by the time she was perfectly skinny again, it was over." Lorelai glanced sideways at him. "She got an offer to work in France and she jumped at it. She left Georgia with Chris and took off."

"No!" Luke discovered he was more invested in the story than what he thought.

"I kid you not."

"Wow. So he's still raising her on his own?"

"No, Sherry's mothering instinct kicked in once she got settled over there. She hired a nanny and took Georgia to live with her in France." Lorelai looked glum. "We stopped on the way to Italy to see her. She's the prettiest child imaginable. Long blonde curls; this adorable upturned nose." She looked over at him again. "And the biggest brat ever," she stated. "She never gets told no, and it shows." She raised and lowered her shoulders, either to relieve the tension from driving, or to put an end to the story. "Anyway, I was a stepmother for about six minutes."

Not knowing what to say, Luke stayed silent.

"I don't know why I had the urge to spill all of that to you." She laughed self-consciously. "At the time it was happening, I just absorbed it all, you know? There was nothing I could do about it, so I just watched as it unfolded. I guess all of the recent baby talk brought the anxiety of that period back to the surface."

"I'm glad you told me." He smiled at her, kindly. "Even though it all sounds like a soap opera."

"It does, doesn't it?" She shook her head. "What a mess," she mumbled, mostly to herself.

Luke was about to ask another question when a road sign caught his eye. "Hey, 126 coming up! That means we turn at the next light. To the left."

"Okey-dokey!" Lorelai busied herself watching for a break in traffic. They found the neighborhood and Liz's house easily. She parked at the curb, in front of the well-maintained ranch.

Luke sat unmoving after the car came to a stop, his breathing shaky. He couldn't believe that seeing his own sister had turned him into such a coward.

"Hey." Lorelai reached around the elephant and grasped his wrist. "This doesn't have to be a long visit, you know. We can go in, ooh and aah over the baby for a little bit, give them the presents and then skedaddle, if you want to. We can always come up with a reason why we have to head back early. Just give me a sign and I'll take care of it." She frowned, pondering. "Pickles. Yeah, just say 'pickles' and I'll know you want to leave."

"Pickles? Why pickles?"

"Why not?" She shrugged. "It's not a word you use in normal conversation, so it's a good code word."

"I don't need a code word." He sat up straighter. "I'm fine. It's fine." He took a deeper breath. "It will be fine," he insisted.

Lorelai picked up the elephant and thrust it at him. "Would it help to hug the elephant?"

He met her eyes. "I'd rather hug you," he said. He tried to play it off as if he was joking, but he acknowledged to himself that it was a completely honest statement.

She looked startled, but then grinned. "I'm not opposed to that, you know."

He put his hand on the door. "Should we take in the gifts now?"

"Nah, let's get the greetings over with first. You can come out later and fetch them. That will also give you an excuse to get out of the house for a couple of minutes, just in case you need one."

"You have such a devious mind," Luke commented, as he waited for her to come around the car.

She nodded, not taking offense. "It's from all of those years of sneaking out my balcony window."

"You – _What_?"

"Never mind." She took his hand and began to lead him to the front door. "Those are stories I can entertain you with on the drive home."

Liz flung open the door before they knocked. "Big Bro!" she shouted, and threw her arms around Luke's neck.

"Liz." He hugged her back, keeping his mind locked in the present. "How are you?"

"I'm good." She stepped back, openly wiping her eyes. Her smile wavered as she fought to remain cheery.

"You look great," he told her sincerely. She looked healthy and content, a 180 degree turnaround from when she was battling her own demons.

"I look like I'm still pregnant," she said with a big grin. "But I don't care. I'm nursing Doula, so she'll take care of it for me sooner or later." She took in her brother. "You're the one who looks good. Doesn't he look good?" she asked Lorelai.

"He always looks good," Lorelai confirmed. "Which is very annoying for those of us who have to work at it."

Luke scoffed, but Liz gave Lorelai a wink of approval. "I know, right? Can you imagine what it was like to go to high school with him? There's the golden boy, Butch Danes, and then…" She pointed dramatically to herself. "There's me."

"Butch?" Lorelai asked eagerly.

Luke shot Liz a look of warning.

"I'll tell you later," Liz said in a stage whisper. "In the k-i-t-c-h-e-n."

"Luckily I'm a pretty good speller." Lorelai took a step closer to Liz and held out her hand. "I'm Lorelai."

"Yeah, I figured." She pushed Lorelai's hand out of the way. "I'm a hugger. Is that OK with you?"

"Uh, sure!" Lorelai said, too brightly. She opened her arms, and Liz squeezed her tightly. "Thanks for letting me tag along with the golden boy," she added, once she'd escaped the embrace.

"I'm thrilled both of you are here. Come into the living room and have a seat."

They hadn't taken more than a step when Liz yelped. "No, no – stay there!"

They froze.

"Move closer together."

"Liz –"

"Come on, Luke, just do it, OK?"

With a long-suffering sigh, he inched sideways, closer to Lorelai, who was watching both of them curiously.

Liz frowned and squinted, staring at the space over their heads. "Oh yeah," she said happily. "This is gonna work. I think you got it right, Big Bro!"

" _Liz_ ," he said again, making it sound like more of a threat.

"It's your auras," Liz told Lorelai.

Lorelai glanced at Luke from the corner of her eye. "Auras, huh?"

"Yeah, and yours are, wow, _so_ compatible."

"Are they?" Lorelai openly grinned at Luke.

"Big time. Now Rachel – God love her, she's a great gal – but her aura was all wrong for him. It was sorta rusty brown, with some golden streaks shooting through it. But Luke, he's this strong greenish-blue, you know? So that was never really gonna be harmonious." She jammed her fingers together, as if they were fighting. "But now you two – it's a beautiful thing."

"How so?" Lorelai wondered, no longer sounding like such a skeptic.

"Yours is this gorgeous shade of midnight blue, and it's meshing with his like crazy. Seriously, you guys, it's like the Aurora Borealis above your heads right now." Liz sighed in satisfaction. "It's quite the show you're putting on. I wish you could see it for yourselves."

"Don't scare Lorelai off with your paranormal crap," Luke warned. He took Lorelai's arm and urged her into the living area.

"Luke refuses to believe anything unless it's in a science book," Liz said, unperturbed. She joined them in the living room. "How was the drive? You find the house OK?"

"Yeah, no problem at all," Lorelai responded.

Luke had been cautiously examining the space. "Hey Liz – where's T.J.?"

"Oh, he had to work today."

"Work?" Luke asked cynically.

"He picks up hours at the Home Depot when we're in town."

"Really? I didn't know that." Luke was legitimately surprised.

"Yeah, and too bad, he got called in today." Liz nodded. "Maybe because somebody –" She pointed at herself – "got a hold of the floor manager and sweet talked him into adding T.J. into the schedule for today."

Lorelai laughed and Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I thought that it might be good to have some time alone today, without T.J. being here," Liz told him plainly.

"Oh, Liz, I don't – you didn't have to –"

"It's OK, Luke. I know T.J.'s personality sorta takes up the whole space. Sometimes it's hard to have another conversation going."

"That _is_ true," Luke mumbled, looking over at Lorelai significantly.

"Darn. I was hoping to meet him," she responded brightly.

"He'll be home a little bit later," Liz assured her. "And Doula's napping right now. You'll meet her later, too."

Lorelai gasped. "What? You lured us here under false pretenses?"

Liz chuckled. "I promise, you'll have plenty of time to check her out."

"But you guys are good?" Luke asked. "Everything's OK?"

"Yeah, everything's good, Luke. No need to worry about us. We're doing fine."

Luke nodded, as every other possible topic of conversation immediately disappeared from his brain.

"So, Liz." Lorelai smoothly took over the discussion. "You said something a little bit ago about T.J. working when you were home. Do you guys travel some of the time?"

Liz nodded madly. "Yeah, we're part of the circuit."

"I'm sorry, the…circuit?" She glanced over at Luke.

He closed his eyes and sank down into the chair a little bit further.

"Yeah, renaissance. We travel all around New England during the spring and summer and into the fall."

"Renaissance? You mean like with medieval costumes and jousting and stuff?"

"Exactly!" Liz beamed at her. "We've got this little dollhouse of a camper we live in. The whole thing's a blast!"

"You make a living from that?"

"Yeah, we're not rolling in the dough or anything, but we're content."

"So, what do you do exactly? You have a booth or something? How does it work?'

"I make jewelry, so yeah, I have a booth. When we're home, like this, I make things for special orders and mail them out. A couple of shops around here let me display stuff, too. People seem to like what I make. I kinda think I've found my calling."

Lorelai sat up on the edge of her seat. "Jewelry?" she asked intently.

"I'll show you later, if you're interested."

"Oh, I'm interested, all right!"

Liz chuckled. "Right now, all of my supplies are still in Doula's room. I guess I'll have to come up with another work area once she starts crawling around."

"And your husband…"

"T.J."

"T.J., right. What does he do on the circuit? He jousts? Or… _ooh_! Does he breathe fire? _Please_ tell me he breathes fire!"

Liz laughed again. "No, he basically helps me. He's the brains of the operation."

Luke tried to stifle a scoff but was only partially successful.

"He made the best sign for my booth. Sales really picked up after that. He's not shy about going through the crowd and sort of encouraging people to step over my way, either. I don't know what I'd do without him." Liz beamed. "He helps other people get their booths set up, too. Haybale Bill has really gotten to rely on him for all sorts of odds and ends."

"Haybale –" Lorelai started to say.

"We're trying to come up with a way for T.J. to use his artistic talent, too. We're thinking maybe we could make my booth bigger and then he could sit at one end and do his portraits."

"Wow, he draws, huh?"

"He's an Etch-A-Sketch artist."

Lorelai quickly glanced at Luke again. "What?"

"He does these incredibly life-like portraits on an Etch-A-Sketch. Seriously, Lorelai, we're talking real works of art."

"But how does…" Lorelai was frowning and blinking rapidly as she tried to comprehend T.J.'s talent. "The nature of an Etch-A-Sketch is that it's temporary, isn't it?" She made a shaking motion with her hands.

"Yeah, that's been the big drawback of turning it into something he could sell. I mean, you'd have to break the Etch-A-Sketch to keep the drawing permanent. And that wouldn't work. Think of the expense of that! Plus, we couldn't haul a million Etch-A-Sketches around with us!" Liz grinned. "That'd be silly!"

"Silly. Right," Lorelai murmured.

"But recently we came across a Polaroid camera and bunch of film, super cheap. So we're thinking maybe T.J. could do the portrait, and then we'd take a Polaroid of the Etch-A-Sketch picture, and give them that to take home! That'd work, right?"

"Uh…sure?"

"The problem is…" Liz sighed. "There's this really strict rule about anachronisms in the faire. The guy who runs our group has a fit if he even thinks there's a cellphone in your pocket. We're not supposed to have anything visible from the present day. It's all supposed to be old-timey, you know? But hey, I use plastic string and modern clasps in my jewelry, so what's the difference, right?"

Lorelai stared hard at Liz for a second, before whipping her head around to glare at Luke. "You told me _none_ of this?" she hissed at him.

He shrugged and looked away, feeling guilty for no discernible reason.

"So, Liz," Lorelai continued, turning back to his sister without a hitch, "how far afield do you and your historically accurate cronies travel? Do you ever make it down into, say, Connecticut?"

Luke suddenly sat straight up. "No," he said.

"Yes," Lorelai said sweetly, her gaze locked onto Liz. "Isn't it time for your group to try out a new market?"

" _No,"_ Luke repeated, putting force behind the word.

Liz's eyes twinkled at Lorelai. "My brother's terrified that I'll come back to town and embarrass him with all my freaky friends."

"Oh, him," Lorelai said, waving her hands his way. "Listen, you probably don't know, but I'm in the process of renovating this old inn, and I think –"

"Yeah, I know. The Dragonfly, right?"

That stopped Lorelai cold. " _You_ know the Dragonfly?" she asked in amazement.

"You bet! Oh man, the times I had out there!"

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked sharply.

Liz chuckled. "That place was party central back in the day. There was a whole group of us who'd meet out there. Smoke. Drink." She waggled her eyebrows. "Experiment with other things."

" _What?!"_ Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Golden Boy and I moved in _completely_ different circles," Liz explained to Lorelai. "He was so squeaky clean that he had no idea Stars Hollow had this dirty underbelly to it."

"I knew," Luke grumbled. "I just didn't realize it involved the Dragonfly." He glared at his sister. "Or that you were _that_ involved in it."

"Oh," Liz sighed dreamily. She leaned back in her chair and briefly closed her eyes, remembering another time. "I think I even lost my virginity out there."

" _Liz!"_

She opened her eyes back up and took in the differing levels of astonishment and/or horror on the faces of her guests. "Too much information?"

Lorelai stood up and pointed at Liz. "Wait, wait, _wait_!" She was almost dancing in her excitement. "Are you the 'Lizzie D.' immortalized in a limerick on the wall in the front bedroom?"

"Most likely," Liz chortled.

"Ha! Oh, my God!" Lorelai plopped back down. "When you come to visit, I _will_ make sure you get that room!"

"Wouldn't that be a trip!" Liz laughed too. "Like going back in time or something!"

"Something like that," Lorelai murmured, catching Luke's eye. "Anyway…" she shook off whatever otherworldly vibrations had temporarily reached out to her. "Do you think we could talk about your group staging a faire in Stars Hollow, maybe out by the Dragonfly? I think that would be a great draw for the whole area!"

"No," Luke stated yet again, to deaf ears.

"It wouldn't be for a while, probably. We're not opening until the spring, and it might take us a year until we could host something like that," Lorelai went on, ignoring him.

"That would be a hoot!" Liz agreed enthusiastically.

"Can you imagine the hoops Taylor would make you jump through?" Luke pointed out, trying to dissuade her. "Think of all of the permits you'd have to get!"

"Phfft, Taylor. I can handle him." She looked proudly at Liz. "I _am_ a full voting member at the town meetings, now."

"Wow, congrats," Liz teased her.

Lorelai got a speculative look on her face. "What if I commissioned you to make some jewelry for me? Maybe with some sort of dragonfly beads or charms on it or something? Could you do that?"

"You should probably actually see my stuff, first," Liz suggested, amused by Lorelai's over-eagerness.

"Good idea," Luke muttered.

"Again, my brother has no faith in anything I do."

Lorelai shot him a warning frown. "I want a small corner in the entry to be stocked with gifts and souvenirs for sale, hopefully made by local vendors. I think some sort of dragonfly jewelry would fit in perfectly, don't you?"

"Maybe," Luke agreed grudgingly.

"Well, once Doula –"

A high, thin cry pierced through the air.

"Speak of the little angel," Liz said with a smile. "I'll be right back."

As soon as Liz was out of the room, Lorelai came to stand in front of him, her hands on her hips. "Stop it!" Her voice was low, but threatening all the same.

He scowled back at her. "Stop what?" he asked peevishly.

"You know perfectly well what. You're belittling your sister and acting like I don't know what I'm doing, either. I really don't appreciate your shitty attitude."

"And you don't appreciate just how flaky my sister is. You're not the one who's had to put up with her crap for the last few decades."

"I don't care. Stop it now, before you ruin the whole day!" she demanded.

"Here she is!" Liz sang out, re-entering the room, the baby in her arms.

Luke froze in his seat. His legs refused to move. He made a weak attempt to gulp down his panic and become a functioning adult again.

Lorelai, on the other hand, spun around immediately, pasting a smile on her face. "Oh! Let me see!" She rushed across the room and peered into the bundle of blankets Liz held. "Aww, so adorable. Look at all the hair!"

"I know, right?" Liz smiled down at Doula, while swaying gently from side to side. "Here, go ahead and take her," she offered, holding the baby out to Lorelai.

"No, no, no." Lorelai backed away, clasping her arms behind her back. "I'm not really a baby person."

"She didn't mean that," Liz reassured Doula. "Don't be silly, Lorelai. Everyone's a baby person. Who doesn't like babies?"

"I like them OK," Lorelai said. "I just don't – you know – handle them."

"Why not? That's the best part!" Liz tried to hand Doula off to her again, but once again Lorelai dodged away.

"Seriously, I just don't think I'd be very good at it."

"Good at it?" In confusion, Liz halted and stared at Lorelai. "There's nothing to be good _at_. You just hold 'em, that's all."

Lorelai stopped backing away. "The truth is…I never have."

"You've never what?" Liz asked, puzzled. "Held a baby? You've _never_ held a baby?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I had to watch one, once, but it was asleep and in a carrier. All I had to do was sit beside it and make sure it kept breathing until the mother came back."

Liz appeared flummoxed for one moment longer, but then she started to chuckle. "Well, your baby phobia stops today. Hold out your arms."

"No, Liz, really, no." She cast a terrified, silent plea Luke's way.

Luke tried to get up, to come to her rescue, but the truth was, he was terrified to hold the baby too, but for a completely different reason. He was scared that it would hurt too much. He was fearful that if all of the memories of Doula's big brother would flood through him at once, they'd bring him to his knees.

Liz pulled one of Lorelai's arms out from behind her back, then the other, and placed them so they formed a landing area of sorts. She gently slid Doula from the crook of her arm to Lorelai's. "Just make sure you support her head. That's all there is to it, basically." She took a step back, now in a supervisory role.

Her face a mask of panic, Lorelai stood rooted to the spot, too scared to even breath. Uncomfortable in her rigid arms, Doula squirmed, and instinctively, Lorelai tipped the baby closer to her chest and gentled her hold into something more like a hug. Doula began to snuggle against her, now content.

" _Ohhhhhhhhh_ ," Lorelai breathed out, on a long exhale. Her eyes were riveted on the baby, and from some ancient impulse, she began to sway incrementally. "Oh. _Oh my_. Oh my goodness," she whispered. "She's _so_ soft."

"Yeah, I know," Liz acknowledged, smiling.

"She's soft, and she smells like best perfume ever." Her voice was almost a whisper as she continued to drink in the baby. "She's perfect."

"Yeah, you don't have to convince me," Liz said. "I'm going to go warm a bottle up for her, OK? I'm nursing, but I figured my squeamish brother would appreciate it if she was bottle-fed this afternoon. Have you ever heard his rant about nursing mothers in the diner?"

Lorelai nodded, but Luke wasn't sure she'd even heard Liz.

"You be ready to jump in if she needs help," Liz instructed him, as she left the living room.

Luke nodded too, but he knew he wouldn't be needed. Lorelai had slipped back into the same sort of trance he'd observed in the baby store. Expressions of what might have been love, or maybe longing, were again playing over her beautiful features. Luke watched from the safety of his chair, so completely mesmerized that he wasn't aware of the minutes slipping by. It was a surprise to him when Liz came back in the room.

"Why don't you feed her?" Liz suggested, walking over to Lorelai and Doula.

That snapped Lorelai out of her daze. "Oh, no, I couldn't! I don't know –"

"It's easy," Liz insisted. She guided Lorelai to the couch and helped her to sit down. She scooped up a couple of pillows and made a mound under Lorelai's arm, the one that was bent to support Doula's head. "Just rest your arm here. Keep her head up a little bit, so she doesn't choke. Then, just bring in the bottle…"

Doula eagerly latched on to the bottle. Cute little 'num-num' noises accompanied her famished sucking.

Lorelai gasped. "She's doing it! She's guzzling it down the way I do coffee! How does she know to do that?"

"Babies come prepared. Unfortunately, they also have the habit of spitting up, so just in case…" Liz tucked a cotton cloth over Lorelai's shoulder.

"This is all just _the best_ ," Lorelai murmured, lost in wonder. She shifted Doula a little bit in her arms. A beatific glow lit up her face and she turned to gaze at Liz. "She _fits_ ," she whispered, sounding as if she'd just discovered a miracle.

Luke cocked his head, not able to follow what she meant, but Liz seemed to understand immediately.

"She absolutely fits," she confirmed to Lorelai.

"I didn't know." Lorelai's voice was choked, and she blinked hard. "I didn't know that was what was missing."

Liz was sitting next to Lorelai on the couch, and she put her hand, gently, on top of Doula's thick head of hair in a loving caress. "She fills up the empty spot, doesn't she?"

"Yes! Yes," Lorelai agreed breathlessly. She shivered, then moved her arms into a more comfortable position, making a tender space for Doula. "I had _no_ idea," she revealed softly. "No idea."

Liz continued to stroke her daughter's hair. "Luke thinks I'm insane for having this baby."

She said it so calmly that the words themselves didn't register to Luke. It was only when Lorelai's head jerked upright and she sent him a worried look that he really heard them.

"Oh, Liz, no, I don't think he–" Lorelai began, trying to defend him.

"Yeah, he does," Liz confirmed, still unperturbed. She only looked at Doula. "He thinks having her is just a way to erase Jess."

Luke finally found his voice. "Liz, no, that's not –"

"You think this is just a whim on my part. You think this is just the next crazy thing I've rushed into. Something else that you'll have to fix someday."

Cold, aching despair filled him. He could barely force words out of his throat through the overwhelming grief. "No. There's no more fixing. _I_ can't fix anything. Don't expect me to do that, Liz! Don't _ever_ ask me to do that again!"

She stood up and turned to face him. "You think it's my fault that Jess is dead."

"Are you kidding? It's _my_ fault!" Somehow he'd gotten to his feet, too. "You were a mess. You sent Jess to me. I was supposed to take care of him! And I…I'm the one who failed! I'm the one –" His voice cracked, preventing him from saying anything else.

"That's not the way it works, Luke." Liz began to walk towards him. "You did everything you could. You provided Jess with a home, and structure, and a path out, if that's what he wanted. It was his decision to walk away from that."

"I should have tried harder. I should have made him stay. I should have insisted –"

"You know that doesn't work. How many times did you try that with me?" Liz walked closer to him while shaking her head. "The time came when only Jess could save himself."

"No, that's not –"

"I tried too, Luke. I was in decent shape by then. I tried everything I could think of. I even found Jimmy, and had him go talk to Jess. I thought that maybe the shock of his father reaching out to him would somehow get through to him."

Luke stared at her in disbelief. "You're kidding. Jimmy Mariano? The guy abandons you and Jess 19 years ago and you thought he'd be some sort of magic ticket?"

"He was willing to try. He wanted to make amends, and I was desperate. It didn't work, though. It just gave Jess one more reason to shoot up."

Luke gulped down as much anguish as he could. "I should have forced him to go to rehab."

Liz touched his arm. "You could have done that, but it wouldn't have worked, not in the long run. You know that. Jess had you, and me, and practically an army of other people that would have been willing to help him. But the fact was he didn't want anybody's help yet." She grasped his arm tighter. "He wasn't ready to take that step."

"I can't accept that," Luke said gruffly, trying to keep himself together.

"You have to." She put her hand against his face and gently forced him to look at her. "Just like you have to accept that I did the right thing by having Doula. I have to show Jess that I can do this. I want him to see that I learned the hard lessons with him. I want him to see that I _can_ be a good mom. I want him to be proud of me as his sister grows up, and she gets to have the childhood he should have had, but didn't."

"What _the hell_ are you talking about?" Luke asked loudly, baffled by her words.

"I like to think that Jess is still around. You know, that maybe he's in a better place, but that he comes back here and checks on us sometimes, too." Her eyes fluttered closed and a serene smile played over her lips. "Do you remember how much he liked to write? All of those years when he was either reading a book or writing in one. He wouldn't go anywhere without a stuffed backpack. Remember?"

Luke cleared his throat. "Yeah. I remember."

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, ignoring the tears that began to spill down her cheeks. "I hope that he's writing a book now. I hope he's found a nice girl and that they sit together while he writes." She tilted her head, considering. "Maybe they have a cat."

" _A cat_?!" he practically roared. "Liz, you are out of your mind!"

"No, Luke, I've found a way to be happy. I've found a way to go on with my life. I'm going to take care of Doula and T.J. and I'm going to make my jewelry, and I'm going to make Jess proud of me. I want Jess to see that his death changed us for the better." She began to cry harder. "I didn't want him to die. I want him here. But if he had to die, I don't want it to be for nothing. I want Doula to grow up knowing she had the best big brother ever!" She stopped for a moment, choking on her tears. "Or at least, as good of a big brother as the one I had."

Her staunch devotion to him, despite his failure, was what finally broke him down. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into the top of her head. She hugged him back, fiercely.

"It's not your fault," she whispered to him.

He raised his head enough to swipe at his eyes. "It's not yours, either."

"Ah, now you're getting it," she praised him.

Still embracing his sister, he chanced a glance over at Lorelai. She was rocking Doula in her arms, maybe to keep the baby from sensing the drama going on elsewhere in the room. She leaned her head down to the burp cloth on her shoulder, letting the cotton soak up her own tears.

That was the moment when the kitchen door opened and T.J. walked in. He stopped, observing the tears and rampant emotion in the room.

"Hey, family! Ain't it great?" He crossed the living room to his wife. "You OK, Lizzie?" he asked, with heartfelt concern.

Liz pulled away from Luke, wiping her eyes. "I'm super, hon."

T.J. put a hand on her shoulder, studying her, wanting to confirm that. "OK then!" He turned to Luke and lightly punched his arm. "Good to see you, big guy."

"Hey, T.J.," Luke said, stealthily attempting to sop up his own tears.

T.J. went to the couch next. He tousled Doula's hair before plopping down beside Lorelai. "And who's this?"

"Lorelai," she said, giving him a watered-down version of her usual sparkly smile.

"Lorelai, huh?" He pointed to himself. "I'm T.J. Guess what it stands for!"

She briefly shook her head, as if she was having trouble switching to a suddenly lighthearted conversation. "Uh…Thomas Jefferson?"

"Nope! Try again!"

She looked even less enthused about guessing. "Tijuana Joe."

"Still no! Try again!"

Lorelai fixed him with a look that would have brought other men to their knees. "Toe Jam," she said distinctly.

T.J. hooted with laughter. "Hey, I like this one!" he announced, hooking his thumb at her. "So, Lorelai." He fashioned his fingers into a square and looked through them at her, as if it was a viewfinder. "Has anyone ever told you you'd look dynamite in an Etch-a-Sketch portrait?"

* * *

The rest of the visit went so smoothly it might have been scripted.

Liz showed Lorelai how to burp Doula, which horrified Lorelai anew, brought about a loud, satisfying burp from the baby, and snickers from everyone else.

The ice thoroughly broken, they chatted for a while, and Luke saw, for the first time, how well-suited Liz and T.J. were. He saw how content and happy his sister was. He saw, in every glance, every gesture, in every word, how much T.J. loved her. He was forced to admit how wrong he'd been about the whole situation, about everything. He wondered what else he'd been wrong about.

Lorelai was the one who finally reminded him to go get the presents out of the car. He hadn't been looking for an excuse to leave the house.

The new parents were crazy about all of the thoughtful gifts. T.J. insisted on putting the highchair together right away, even though Doula wouldn't be using it for months. To his surprise, Luke managed to work alongside T.J. without the usual urge to throttle him.

Liz suggested they stay for dinner. They ordered in pizza and some calzones from an Italian place just down the street. They sat around the kitchen table, wolfing down the tasty food, as everyone took turns holding the baby.

No longer able to avoid it, Luke found his newborn niece in his arms. The term 'bittersweet' suddenly had more meaning than he ever imagined. His arms remembered the right way to protect her head. His heart remembered it could unlock. He found out that it was still capable of receiving love, as well as giving it out.

Doula regarded him studiously, her bottomless eyes fixated on him.

"Her eyes are blue," he stated. Every single thing about her floored him.

"For right now." Liz got up and came around the table to stand next to him. "See how they're looking a little muddy? They'll probably start turning brown in a day or so."

"You think so?" He was willing to defer to his sister on anything baby-related.

"Yeah, I don't think she's got the Danes' blue ones, not like Jess did."

"Mine are brown," T.J. announced cheerfully, reaching for another piece of pizza.

"Genetics," Lorelai chuckled, munching on her own slice.

It almost felt like the baby was trying to tell him something, to beam some sort of message to him telepathically. As gently as possible, he stroked her cheek with his finger.

"She's wonderful, Liz," he sincerely told his sister. He took a breath, steeling himself to say something he'd normally keep to himself. "She's just what our family needed."

Liz put her arm around his shoulder and bent down to put her head against his. "She's magic, Luke. If you let her, she'll heal your heart."

Under his niece's spell, Luke almost believed that was true.

* * *

It was Lorelai who reminded him that it was a long drive back to Stars Hollow, that it was time to leave.

At the door, Luke hugged his sister for a long time. He even let T.J. give him some sort of 'bro hug' without feeling icky about it.

"Lorelai, I love this dress so much!" Liz had barely put the blue velvet dress down since she'd opened the package. "I promise I'll send you a picture of her wearing it at Christmas!"

"Or, you know." Lorelai shrugged mischievously. "Just come visit at Christmas and I can see for myself."

"Or you could come here!" Liz suggested.

"That too," Luke said, surprised at how agreeable he suddenly was. He tried to look sternly at Lorelai, wanting to blame her, but found he could only smile.

"Hey, Lizzie," T.J. cut in. "Did you tell 'em about the auras?"

"Of course I did," Liz said, rolling her eyes.

"Not as good as ours," he said, putting his arm around his wife. "But they're not bad." He grinned knowingly at Luke and Lorelai.

Playing along, Lorelai pointed above their heads. "It's the Aurora Borealis up there, right?"

"You know it, baby!" T.J. chortled.

* * *

When the goodbyes were finally over and they were down at the street, Luke saw that Lorelai was shivering. It had started to drizzle about the same time the pizza arrived. The November night felt like winter was imminent.

"Hurry up and get in," Luke urged her.

She turned to him, one hand cradling her forehead. "Would you mind driving, at least at first?"

"Are you all right?" He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to see her face more clearly.

"Just tired. Been a long day." She tried to smile.

"And an emotional one."

"That too."

He reached to take the keys from her hand, then helped her into the car. He settled himself behind the wheel, adjusting the mirrors. "You're sure this is OK, if I drive? It doesn't mess with your car insurance?"

"I don't care if it does. If you get us into a wreck, we'll hop out and change places before the cops show up." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

"As long as we have a plan," he said wryly, before starting up the car and turning up the heat. He could see she was still shivering.

* * *

Luke had a lot to process. He thought about Liz and all the crazy nonsense his sister had spouted, and then he thought about all the not-so-crazy things she'd said, too. He soaked up the memory of how nice it felt to be with her again, without the guilt and blame trying to crowd between them. He thought about how maybe T.J. wasn't as big of a flake as he'd assumed. Most of all, he thought about Doula, and how soft and warm and alive her little body had felt in his arms.

It wasn't until he saw the sign for the BabiesRUs store that he realized how long they'd been driving and how long Lorelai had been quiet. Alarmed, he looked over at her. "Lorelai?" he said softly, thinking maybe she was asleep.

The bright overhead lights by the exit ramp shone on her face. He saw that her cheeks were wet with tears. Now even more alarmed, he reached a hand over to her, his thumb skimming over her damp cheek. "Hey, what's wrong? What can I do?"

"Nothing," she said, trying to hold back a sob. "Just keep driving, please? Ignore me."

"Tell me what's going on. Are you sick? Headache? What do you need?"

"Please, Luke, just pretend it's OK. Just…" She pointed out the windshield. "Let's just get home."

His mind had been jumping from one scenario to another. "Was it T.J.?" he demanded fiercely. "Did he say something stupid to you? If he did, I swear I'll –"

"No, Luke, of course it wasn't T.J. Come on, you were right there. You heard every single thing he said to me all day."

Luke shook his head, not able to think of anything else that could cause such a strong reaction in her. "What is it then? What's wrong?"

She went silent and resettled her head back against the seat. Anyone else might have assumed she wasn't going to respond, but Luke knew she was merely gathering up her thoughts.

When the words came, they were unexpectedly blunt, with a harsh, bitter edge to them. "So which of you didn't want kids? You or Rachel?"

"Whoa! _What_?" he demanded, about one mile-marker away from completely blowing his top.

She put up a hand in apology and shook her head. "Sorry. Really sorry. That's not what I meant to say and definitely not the way I meant to say it."

"Try again," he suggested coolly, still on the verge of anger.

Lorelai sat up, groaning. She hunched her shoulders and wiped her face. "I was just thinking that four years of marriage is plenty of time to start a family, unless someone doesn't want to. And I wondered if that was the case. Again, sorry. I know it's none of my business, and you certainly don't have to tell me anything."

Luke paced himself, taking a couple of deep breaths as he watched the road and thought about nothing but traffic.

"Not a kid guy?" Lorelai asked, after several miles had ticked by.

"Not particularly, no." He ran his hand over the steering wheel. "I find that they're normally sticky. Usually it seems like they've got jam on their hands or something. Everything in the diner needs to be wiped down after kids have been in there. How is it possible that they've always got jam hands?"

From the corner of his eye, he could see that Lorelai was watching him, trying to determine if he was serious or not.

"Doula wasn't sticky," she finally pointed out.

"No, Doula wasn't sticky," he agreed. He waited a few beats. "But she will be, someday," he said ominously.

Lorelai nodded and looked out the passenger window. "So, no babies because…they're sticky?"

He nodded in agreement and said nothing else. The miles continued to fly by.

By the time the signs for the next exit appeared, he had prepared himself to talk. "Rachel and I only discussed children from a real estate perspective."

Her head turned swiftly to him. "Real estate? What are you talking about?"

"When we got married, we decided to keep on living above the diner. At the time, we said it would be just until we were ready to start a family. Once that happened, we'd find a house. You know, a real home to raise kids in."

"But that…didn't happen?"

"Nope," he said succinctly.

Lorelai watched him for a minute or two, until she looked horrified and abruptly sucked in a shocked breath. "Oh, Luke! God, I'm sorry. I feel like such a heel now, bringing this up."

Immediately he saw to which conclusion she had jumped. "No, no, that's not what I mean. It's not that we couldn't, I wasn't trying to imply that."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Look. My mom passed away a year after we got married. She left us this beautiful house, my childhood home. Perfect for a family, and it fell into our laps. We had that real home, if we wanted it. Instead, we didn't even discuss moving into it. We sold it, so we could split the proceeds with Liz. Or at least, that's what we told ourselves we needed to do."

Lorelai was struggling to understand. "So we're back to you just not wanting to?"

"I had a great childhood, Lorelai. Picture perfect, practically. I think I knew that if Rachel and I had a child and moved into my old home, it wouldn't be perfect. I didn't want to ruin my memories of that house with my less than perfect marriage. And to bring some poor innocent kid into it…" Luke shook his head. "Nope."

"And Rachel felt the same way?"

Luke paused, trying to be as honest as possible. "I think that Rachel realized a baby would tie her down in Stars Hollow so tight she'd never get out."

"She _said_ that?"

"No, of course not! We talked less and less the longer we were married. I'm just guessing here. We got really good at ignoring every big issue we could. It got to where we were scared to even discuss buying new bathroom towels, for fear that would be the thing that finally made us face reality."

"That's sad, Luke."

"Yeah," he agreed soberly.

"Are you sorry?" she asked quietly, a little bit later.

"About?"

"Not having a kid."

He snorted. "No. That's the one thing we got right."

"Oh," she said, and there was something in the way she uttered the little word that made him feel ashamed, as if he'd hurt her somehow. She cuddled down into her seat again and closed her eyes.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, more worried than ever.

She kept her eyes closed. "Do you remember – months ago, now – you asked me why I married Christopher?"

"Yeah."

"It wasn't until I held Doula today that it hit me. I think…I think I married him because I was sort of hoping we'd have a baby."

The air went out of Luke and once again, he stared straight down the lane of the highway. "I don't know what to say to that."

Lorelai gave dry chuckle. "Yeah, me neither."

He quickly glanced over at her. "You guys wanted kids?"

She chuckled again, still without humor. "Us? You mean the couple sitting behind you and Rachel in the no-communication bus?"

"Didn't realize it was such an epidemic."

"Definitely, it is." She sighed. "For a long time now – years, I guess – I've had this weird feeling. This craving. This – desire, to have something in my arms. Like…" She folded her arms together in front of her and hugged them to her chest as an illustration. "I had no clue what was going on. It was like some strange itch, or compulsion, or something. But I was busy, you know? I could ignore it, for the most part. But today, I held Doula…" She faded off, swallowing hard and closing her eyes again. "She fit, Luke. She fit in my arms. She fit, and that…itchy feeling just disappeared. My arms knew what they needed in them, and I didn't." She rubbed her hands anxiously over her arms. "Now I'm wondering if that's why I wanted to get married, at least subconsciously. I mean, Chris had one kid. Maybe he'd get me pregnant, too."

"Uh…" Luke floundered. The idea of her wanting to make babies with the unknown Christopher made his stomach hurt. Luckily, she didn't wait for a reply from him, but quickly continued with her thoughts.

"I've been thinking a lot about that other Lorelai. Lorelai and her Rory, who was apparently the most important person in the world to her. She was hysterically trying to find Rory hours before she started searching for you. I think that shows where her priorities were, don't you?"

"I guess so," he was forced to agree, taking a slight hit to his ego. He'd never considered that fact before.

"I keep thinking about how maybe I was pregnant at 15, too, the same as her, but my Rory didn't happen. Maybe that was it, Luke. Maybe that was my only chance to have a baby, to be a mom, but it didn't happen in this universe. Now I'm old and I'm never going to have a baby to fill up my arms."

"You're not old," he scoffed, zeroing in on the only part of her statement he felt qualified to dispute.

She turned to look at him. "The medical field thinks so. Even if I somehow convinced you to be my baby daddy, and we went home and got busy tonight, and I woke up pregnant tomorrow, the doctors would still classify it as a 'geriatric pregnancy.'"

"Get out."

"No, it's true. That's what they call it if the mom's over 35."

"That's crazy. Plus, look at my own sister. She just had a baby, didn't she?"

"I'm not saying you can't get pregnant over 35, but there are risks. A lot more. My eggs are old. Ready to expire. Maybe I can't even get pregnant now." She sighed. "Let's face it, I missed my chance."

"I think you're jumping to all sorts of conclusions here." Luke checked the sideview mirror before pulling out to pass a slower car in front of them. "This whole baby thing just popped up today, right? Which makes sense, because of Doula and everything. Get back to your normal life, and then see how you feel. I think you're putting too much emphasis on one extremely emotional day."

"I'm not emotional!" Lorelai said sharply.

"I'm not saying you are! I'm just pointing out that the events of the day may have influenced you."

"I've had these feelings, these yearnings, for a long time now, but the pieces didn't fall into place until today. That's the only thing that happened today. I finally figured out what I've been missing."

Luke didn't try to argue with her anymore. She felt how she felt, and he wasn't going to able to change those feelings, no matter what he said. He realized that his own were a little unsettled now, too. Not only because it sounded like Lorelai was contemplating going down a path he wasn't particularly keen to follow, but because she'd brought up their doppelgangers from that other world. Anytime that happened, it left his emotions torn and twisted.

A few more miles down the highway, Lorelai quietly asked, "How old _is_ Liz?"

"She was born in '66."

"'68 for me."

"See? Not so old."

Lorelai worried her lips for a minute. "Apparently, she had Jess pretty young, didn't she?"

"Oh, yeah," Luke said tiredly. "Believe me, I could tell you all sorts of stories about those years."

"Is it OK if we sidetrack those until another time? I'm interested, but I don't think I can handle them tonight."

"Of course. It's not anything I'm anxious to talk about."

She shifted into a few minutes of contemplation before releasing another deep sigh. "Here's my other dilemma. I'm already in labor with the Dragonfly. It's my baby for the foreseeable future. Even if I got pregnant with our imaginary baby tonight, how could I possibly manage it? My hands are full with the Dragonfly. I don't have time to take care of a real baby right now! Which means it'll be years before I can even think about having a kid! Which means I'll be even older and facing a pregnancy with more red flags. I need to get real. I'm _never_ going to be a mom. A baby is off the table for me. I'll never know what it's like to have my own Rory."

"Hey, calm down," Luke cautioned, hating to see her so distraught. "If these things are supposed to happen, they will."

She turned on him in a flash. "Can you be more condescending?" She flounced angrily in her seat. "I have girlfriends around my age, I know women at work, all who are desperately trying to get pregnant. It doesn't always 'just happen,' Luke. Even with medical advances and a ton of money to throw at the problem, it doesn't always work out. Sometimes there's only failure." She took a sharp breath. "Heartbreak, but no baby."

"Whoa – that's not what I meant!" He reached over to turn down the heat, because the temperature inside the car had shot up to 11. "What I'm saying is that you're the most determined woman I've ever met, and if this is something you want, you'll make it happen. I have faith that you'll figure it out, that's my message."

She caught her breath. "Oh. Then – OK. Never mind."

They rode on in silence for a spell, until Luke heard a quiet sniffle. Glancing over, he saw that she was crying again.

"Aww, Lorelai." He reached over to rub her shoulder. "Please don't."

"Sorry." She pulled her purse into her lap and searched for a tissue. "I can't help it though. I know it's crazy, but here I am, desperately missing someone I'll never know."

Her poignant comment made tears tickle his own throat. "Look," he said hoarsely, "there's food at the next exit. Let's take a break and get you some coffee and something to eat. How's that sound?"

"Good," she said without enthusiasm, and wiped the tears from her face.

* * *

Luke pulled into the driveway of Lorelai's rental house and stopped the car. The place had a garage, but it was filled with the belongings of the family who actually lived there, so Lorelai parked in the drive.

He walked around the car and opened her door. He squatted down to wake her up. She'd been asleep since they'd returned from their coffee break. At least sleep had stopped the tears.

"Hey, Lorelai, you're home," he said softly, gently rubbing her arm.

Her eyes opened slowly and she frowned, trying to understand what was going on. She turned her head and saw her house. "Oh, man." She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up. "Sorry. I really didn't mean to make you drive all the way home."

"Not a problem. Just makes up for my nap this morning."

"Yeah, I guess we're even now." She let him pull her up and help her out of the car.

He kept an arm about her shoulders, helping her navigate to the front door. Instead of protesting, she huddled against him, seeking warmth from the cold air. Since he had the keys, he unlocked the door before handing them over.

She reached inside and flicked on the lights. "Wanna come in?" she offered.

"Nah. It's late. We're both dead."

Her answering smile had a slightly naughty tilt to it, and he wondered if she was thinking about her throwaway bombshell from the drive home, when she'd suggested he be her baby daddy. "You're probably right," she agreed, surprisingly acquiescent.

"Thanks for being my backup today. I honestly don't know what I would have done without you there."

"You would have been fine, but I'm glad I got to go along. It was fun meeting Liz. I'm not sure what meeting T.J. was."

"Yeah," Luke chuckled in understanding.

"And of course, getting to see Doula was beyond special. I'll never forget that."

"Me neither." He smiled briefly at her, and considered, even more briefly, about hugging her. Instead he stepped backwards, closer to the porch stairs. "See you in the diner tomorrow?"

"Seriously? You still have to ask that?"

He smiled again, nodded, and began to leave.

"Luke! Hey, wait a minute?"

He turned back. "Yeah? What?"

She glanced at the door. "Sure you don't want to come in?"

"Not tonight. What is it?"

"Just something I've been wanting to say, and tonight seems a good time to say it." She took a step towards him, hugging her arms across her chest for warmth. "On our infamous double date night, you told me I was your friend, and I went ballistic about it."

"Yeah…?" he asked nervously.

"It's just that I get it now. I really get it. I've never had a friend like you. You let me talk all I want to, about anything. Sometimes you give me pretty good advice, but mostly you just let me talk. You listen to me. I mean, you _really_ listen to me. Do you know how rare that is?"

"Maybe it's because I just don't have anything to say."

She smiled affectionately at him. "I've heard the rants, Butch. I know that's not true."

He glared at her for using his high school nickname. "I'm going to regret letting you and Liz talk in the k-i-t-c-h-e-n, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah. Forever."

"Great," he sighed.

"Anyway…" She came closer and put her hands on his arm. "You are an awesome friend, Luke, and I will be forever grateful that I get to have you in my life." She went up on tip-toe and placed the most platonic kiss he'd ever received on his cheek. "Thank you about a thousand times for always being there for me."

"You're welcome," he mumbled automatically. He was more than a little stunned at the turn this night seemed to be taking.

She patted his arm one more time and then stepped away. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you." He walked mechanically down the steps and towards the sidewalk.

"Luke!" She rushed to the porch railing. "Do you want the car? I hate for you to have to walk to the diner in the dark."

"Not a problem," he insisted, and kept walking.

"Night!" she called.

He didn't feel like saying anything back, so instead put up his arm in a half-hearted wave.

By the time he'd trudged to the diner's door, he completely understood why she'd been so upset when he'd categorized her as a 'friend.'

"Aurora Borealis my ass," he grumbled, and stepped inside the darkened diner.

* * *

 **Author's Chat** : So this chapter is finally done! What'd you think? (Seriously, what did you think? Tell me, guys! I need to hear from you! Give me a reason to keep going!)

Also, a big thank you to a guest reviewer on "The Night I Found Your Father." Your words were so lovely and just exactly what I needed to hear! Thanks for the perfect timing – I owe you!


	11. One Simple Rule

The guy taking up space at one of the tables in the window was not a Stars Hollow regular. Probably he was just passing through, although strangely, he didn't seem to be in any hurry to move on. In fact, he'd been sitting there schmoozing for most of the afternoon.

Luke's mother would have called him _a most charming young man._ He'd gone out of his way to flirt with all of the women patronizing the diner on this dull January day. Miss Patty was clearly smitten and kept tossing her head his way coquettishly, her strident laugh echoing throughout the dining room every time he said something even slightly amusing. He'd joshed – there was really no other word for it – with Caesar, who'd returned to the kitchen beaming. He'd even tried to banter with Taylor Doose, and although Taylor refused to banter back, there was a trace of a smile on the old coot's face when he stepped up to the cash register to pay for his bowl of soup and cornbread muffin.

When one of the part-timers stopped at the table to refill his coffee, Luke caught the flash of his smile, the practiced twinkle in his eye. That was when it all clicked.

The next time the cup needed refilling, Luke made sure he was the one to take the pot around.

The guy gave him the same smile, but the twinkle was definitely muted. "Thanks," he said, continuing to ooze charm. " _Great_ coffee!"

Luke sat the pot down on the table, a little heavier than what he meant to. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down his nose at the too-affable guy. "She's not here," he said bluntly.

At least he had the good grace to look embarrassed for a moment. "I know she's not here. She's in Barbados with Emily and Richard." He suddenly smiled at Luke as if the two of them shared a joke. "How do you think _that_ trip's going, huh?"

"Since they added another week onto it, I'm guessing pretty well," Luke observed, refusing to be drawn in by the charm.

"But still, it's _so_ bizarre! So abnormal!" He ran a finger around the cup's rim for a moment. "Lorelai's always made fun of the way her parents bolt for the Caribbean during the holidays instead of doing Christmas at home. And now she suddenly decides to join them?" Once again, he smiled at Luke, but quizzically this time. "Seriously, what's gotten into her?"

"She needed the break," Luke said with a shrug. "I'm glad they convinced her to take off for a while." Although truthfully, he didn't understand it either. Three weeks was a long time to be away from the Dragonfly, even though Tom and his crew weren't going to be doing much over the holidays. Three weeks was a long vacation from her job, plus it was an odd time to be away from friends. Previously he believed that twenty-one days was too long for her to go without his coffee, but apparently he was wrong about that, too.

Christopher glanced out of the window before turning back to Luke without the smile. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I'm not sure." He pulled out a chair and sat down, sensing that joining him at the table might make their conversation less of a spectacle. "Maybe something she said about you at one time or another made it sort of obvious who you were."

"But not nearly as obvious as having your name painted on the window." Chris pointed, good-naturedly, at the yellow letters on the outside of the glass.

Luke leaned back in the chair. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"

"Curiosity," Chris said flippantly, but then he sighed and lost some of the cheerful bluster he'd been employing up until then. "I'm worried about her," he admitted, dropping his voice.

Luke kept his face impassive. "Any special reason why?"

"Hmm, let me think." He drummed his fingers against the table. "She suddenly does an about-face regarding her career and life goals, sinks every bit of her money into a risky project, and abruptly moves to a small town where she knows no one." He stared at Luke, no longer smiling. "Oh, and she's obsessed with some guy running a diner. No red flags there at all, right?"

Irritation bubbled through him, but he managed to divert it temporarily by finding something they could agree on. "You're not the only one who was worried."

"Really?" Chris looked surprised. "Well, that's not reassuring at all," he muttered.

"I had the same concerns when she first dove into the Dragonfly. I was the one who pointed out that she didn't know anything about renovating or running an inn. I told her repeatedly that trying to start a business in a place where she knew no one and didn't even live was the height of stupidity. Plus, it's crazy to partner up with someone she just met, who already had one business failure on their watch."

"I bet she took that really well."

Luke grinned before he could stop it. "Yeah, not so much, but she's proving me wrong. Against all odds, she's doing it. The building contractor, who I thought hated people just on principle, would walk through fire for her, I think. Hell, the whole town loves her. Stars Hollow is now nothing more than one big pep rally for Lorelai Gilmore. I've had to turn in my skeptic card. She's convinced me that she's going to make this work."

"I guess that addresses all of the concerns _except_ for the diner guy obsession," Chris said pointedly.

Strangely, Luke felt comfortable enough in his company to be upfront. "I'm pretty sure that's cooled off."

"Really?" Chris eyed him cynically. "Because that is not my impression at all."

Luke shrugged, trying not to let on how much thought he'd been devoting to that topic. "All I can tell you is that she now seems satisfied with us being friends."

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"No. And besides, fighting is what we do, in a friendly sort of way. No, this is more like she's stepped back. Reconsidered or something." Luke traced over a scratch on the tabletop with the tip of his finger. "I don't know what changed exactly, or why, but it definitely has."

Chris was still studying him. "You're OK with that?"

"Sure," he bluffed. He leaned back in the chair again and folded his arms across his chest. "My position from the get-go was that neither of us was in the right place to start anything new."

Christopher seemed amused. "So you're telling me that you're the only man on the planet who hasn't succumbed to Lorelai's charms?"

"I'm saying that there's a difference between acknowledging those charms and, um…succumbing."

"Where's the fun in that?" Christopher teased him.

"I think that being able to stay friends is better than having some 'fun,'" Luke said hotly, letting his irritation have free rein this time.

"Then you're a better man than I am," Chris said mildly. "Lor and I have managed to keep the friendship, no matter what else has happened between us, but truthfully, I can't resist her. If there's ever a chance with her, I'm going to take it."

"Is that why you're here?" Luke asked bluntly. He figured it was better to know the score and be prepared. "You're trying to get her back?"

"Not this time. Maybe the exception proves the rule." He sighed. "We finally took our shot. I thought that marrying her meant that I got _all_ the Lorelai. You understand that, right? You know what a force of nature she is. I thought that being married to her meant that I'd have access to all of her spark. Instead, as soon as we made it legal, that spark disappeared. Instead of more Lorelai, there wasn't anything left for me at all. No reason to fight the divorce because it was so obvious the whole thing was a mistake."

Luke nodded, noting that Christopher's take on the marriage dovetailed with Lorelai's.

"As for why I'm here today…" He paused to reflect. "I'm here because I'm really concerned about her. I don't understand what's going on. For probably the first time in our lives, I feel completely shut out. I'm worried and I'm scared, and I can't get any answers out of her. This crazy trip with Emily and Richard was the last straw. I decided it was time to ignore her orders to stay away."

"She _ordered_ you to stay away?"

"No, not exactly." He looked uncomfortable. "But I've been asking to come over here and see things for myself for months, and all she's done is shut the door in my face. She has a million reasons why I should wait and see the finished product. It's been pretty obvious that she doesn't want me here, which set off all sorts of alarms. I mean, what's going on here that she wants to hide?"

Luke shrugged at that. "Nothing that I know of. Business-wise, everything is on the up-and-up. Personally, she's made a lot of friends and the town has accepted her as one of their own. I can't think of anything she'd be ashamed about, or want to hide. She's even taken her parents out to see the Dragonfly, although she was nervous about their reaction. It all seems good to me."

Christopher glanced out the window. "I wondered if it had something to do with you. Maybe her concern was that I'd immediately challenge you to a duel out on the square or something."

"Is that going to happen?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah. Fencing was my least favorite class." He employed the charming smile again.

Looking him over, Luke figured his dislike of fencing was probably because the mask obscured his pretty face. And probably messed up his hair for the rest of the day.

"Anyway…" Chris folded his hands on the table. "Lorelai is one of the most important people in my life. She's got a special place in my heart, and I want her to stay there. I hate feeling that she's pushing me out of hers. I don't understand what's happened."

Luke hunched over, studying his own clasped hands. "She did mention once that you weren't on board with the whole inn thing. She said that all you did was laugh at her about it. It hurt her feelings, I think, knowing that you didn't believe in what she was trying to do."

Christopher's eyes widened. "Hey, we laugh at each other about a lot of things! Plus, you have to admit, Lorelai suddenly deciding to buy a tumbledown inn is pretty crazy. I really couldn't believe she was serious about it. I mean, come on! The whole thing is nuts!"

"But she wants to do it," Luke said soberly. "It's not nuts to her. To her, it makes perfect sense. To her, it's the most important thing she's ever done."

Chris looked down at the tabletop, frowning as he considered what Luke had just said. "So maybe if I was more supportive, she'd be more willing to let me in?"

"Sure. Couldn't hurt, right?"

"Maybe." He looked idly around the diner. "I'm just so worried about her," he admitted, the ingratiating smile faltering a bit. "I don't want to see her get hurt, or for her spirit to be destroyed. She's always been so strong, and I've always admired her for that strength. I don't want her to fail at some crazy thing and have that failure ruin her forever."

"None of us want that." Luke took a deep breath. "And in any case, she's not going to fail." _Because I won't let that happen_ , he thought.

Christopher's smile flashed at him. "You sound confident."

"I am."

He sighed again. "I just wish I could see the place. It would be reassuring, to see that it does exist. To know that it's a real building that's going to be capable of housing real guests someday."

Luke was suddenly aware of a bulky set of keys residing in a pocket of his jeans. "I guess I could take you on out there, if you wanted to see the place."

Christopher's head shot up. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Uh, yeah." Luke was rapidly calculating the pros and cons of doing such a thing. "Lorelai asked me to go out and check on the building progress while she was gone. If you want to tag along, I really don't see what it would hurt."

"Man, that would be awesome!" He quickly extended his hand for a shake. " _Thank you_ , Luke. You have no idea how much that would ease my worries. And if I'm reassured, then I can do a better job supporting her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Luke had a moment's hesitation, wondering if this was going to somehow blow up on him, but one look at Christopher's jubilant, trusting face tipped him back into confidence. He was sure that Lorelai wouldn't mind. All he was doing was helping to heal a rift between two old friends. Sort of the same way she'd helped him and Liz mend their relationship. It was a good thing. Wasn't it?

"Could we go now?"

"Pretty soon. I need to finish up some diner chores first."

"Great, great." Chris watched as Luke stood up and pushed in his chair. "Hey, buddy, I guess I've got one more favor to ask. Could you maybe not tell Lorelai about this?"

Luke snorted as he reached for the coffee pot. "Do I look like an idiot to you? No way I'm lying to Lorelai for you."

"No, no, I'm not asking you to lie. Just…maybe not tell her about any of it? I don't want her to think that I was sneaking around behind her back, because then she'd think that I didn't trust her, and was trying to do an end run around her to find out the truth for myself."

Luke stared at him. "But that _is_ exactly what you did."

"No it's not. I came over to make sure that Lorelai was OK. I needed to know she wasn't in over her head. How can she believe that I'm on her side if she thinks I'm spying on her?" he demanded self-righteously.

"Look, I make no promises. Bottom line is, I'm not lying to Lorelai. If it comes up, I'm telling her what I know. If it doesn't come up…" Luke shrugged. "Then there's no reason for me to bring it up either."

Chris beamed at him. "That's all I ask."

"Then I guess we've got an understanding." Luke took a step back towards the counter. "Anything else you want while you're waiting?"

That charming smile popped back out. "A fresh cup of hot coffee would be nice."

"Yeah, just a minute," Luke grumbled. He tried to ignore the second thoughts already buzzing about his head.

* * *

A week later, Luke walked quickly into Doose's Market. He grabbed up a shopping basket and immediately threw a couple of loaves of bread into it. He'd advertised a BLT special for lunch that was proving more popular than what he'd expected. He sprinted to the condiment aisle and snatched up the biggest jar of mayonnaise available. Next a dash to the vegetable display for a head of lettuce and a couple of the anemic tomatoes everyone made do with during the winter.

The sad, pale tomatoes made him think of Lorelai. She'd been washed-out and puny before leaving on the trip with her parents. He hoped that being on a beach for a couple of weeks had restored her fearlessness, as well as the color in her cheeks. Her lack of vitality had worried him during most of December. Not to mention that something had felt off between them ever since the trip to see his sister.

Although he hoped that she'd been laying out on the beach, relaxing and regaining her spirit…that image also gave him plenty to stew about. He pictured her wearing the tiniest yellow bikini ever produced, laughing her pretty head off, a bottomless Long Island Iced Tea in her hand, and surrounded by a legion of perfectly coiffed pretty boys, like Christopher. He could even imagine Digger showing up, on the pretense of needing to do business with her father, and condescendingly dismissing the flock of Christophers. He could almost predict the way it would end, with Lorelai returning to Stars Hollow, the pink back in her cheeks, the happy back in her smile, giggling as she showed off a huge diamond on her ring finger to Patty and Babette and the rest of her fan club. _How could I say no?_ He could practically hear her saying it.

To make matters worse, she _still_ wasn't home, even though her return flight was supposedly yesterday. Depressed and gloomy, he reached into the refrigerated meat bin for several packages of bacon.

From out of nowhere, long fingers covered his eyes. Cinnamon and citrus scented the air. "Guess who!" she challenged him.

"Santa Claus," he said, his relief rendering him too scattered to come up with a better response.

She straightened up in a huff. "Santa Claus! Look, I know I may have added a few pounds on vacation, but there's no call to get nasty about it."

He turned to see her, already smiling. She looked healthy and relaxed. He could see the sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Shiny curls bounced from underneath her knitted hat. He reached out to pull her into a relieved hug of welcome.

She pivoted away, just far enough to be out of his range. She grabbed up a package of sausage patties, as if that's what she had meant to do all along, and threw them into her own shopping basket.

It hurt, knowing she didn't want him to touch her. But all the same, he kept the smile on his face and continued on. "You look great. Looks like you got some sun."

"Yeah, I definitely did. All these years, I made fun of my parents heading south at Christmas time, and it turns out they knew what they were doing after all."

"I was a little worried when I didn't see you yesterday," he admitted. "Weren't you supposed to be home yesterday?"

She tilted her head, studying him. "Keeping tabs on me?"

"Always better to know which way the tornado's coming," he responded, sounding cranky. "Besides, you're the one who kept sending me revised itineraries. Wasn't I supposed to be keeping tabs?"

She smiled then, but in a slightly patronizing way. "You didn't watch any news yesterday, did you?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"There was a huge snowstorm, Luke. Thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed. If my mother wasn't so good at bribing her travel agent, we'd probably still be bunking down in Atlanta."

"Oh. Yeah, you're right, I didn't…But you're all OK now?" He scowled, flustered.

She laughed at his discomfort, then made a show of pointing at herself. "Fine and dandy!"

The ingredients in his basket gave him a decent segue. "Want to come over to the diner for lunch? I'm making BLTs."

"Aww, too bad, I can't." She indicated her own basket. "I'm grabbing some supplies for home, then I need to make some calls and get reacclimated at work. See you at dinner?"

"Sure, see you then," he agreed, careful not to put too much of any emotion into his words.

Lorelai took a step away, but abruptly turned and came back to him. "I'm really glad I'm home," she announced breathlessly. For one brief moment, she wrapped her fingers around his hand holding the basket, squeezing tightly.

"I'm glad too," he told her in total sincerity.

She smiled, nodded, and stepped away again. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, later," was what he said, but what he was wondering was how much longer he was going to have to walk this tightrope with her.

* * *

She did come to the diner for dinner, but it was a late one.

"Lorelai!" a couple of people shouted as she walked in.

"Hi," she said, giggling at the unexpected reception. She spent several minutes chatting about beaches and catching up on Stars Hollow news as she made her way to the counter.

"Obviously you've been missed," Luke said dryly, pouring her a cup of coffee without being asked.

"Yeah, that's nice, huh?" Her smile sparkled at him before she took a sip of her favorite beverage. " _Oh_ ," she moaned. "Have I missed _you_." She petted the coffee cup. "So, tell me some more news. What's the hot gossip?"

"If you're after gossip, you'd better go talk with your fan club." He motioned out at the other diners. "You know I don't keep track of that stuff."

Her eyes danced at him from over the coffee cup. "But yet it always ends up that you hear everything in here."

"Maybe I hear it, but my rule is don't repeat it."

"Where's the fun in that?" she demanded playfully, sounding just like Christopher. He looked at her sharply. "What?" she wondered, catching his pointed look.

"Nothing. What do you want to eat?"

She looked up at the specials board behind the counter. "Spaghetti and meatballs is fine with me."

"You got it," he replied, and went to fix her a plate…with an overly-generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, two extra meatballs, and an additional slice of garlic bread instead of a salad.

"You are pathetic," he grumbled to himself, beholding the plate of bribery in his hands.

* * *

By the time Lorelai finished her meal, all of the other diners were gone. She looked around as she wiped her mouth, confirming that fact.

She reached into a big canvas shopping bag by her side. "Now that we're alone, here's a little something for you. Part Christmas gift, part tacky vacation souvenir." She pushed a present his way.

The wrapping paper featured a sunbathing Santa at the beach. "Very appropriate," Luke commented, grinning.

She beamed back at him. "I thought so!"

He unwrapped the gift carefully.

"Good thing this isn't a timed event," she complained.

When he opened the box, he found a picture frame, made out of those translucent shells that reflected the light. Capiz, he thought they were called? They always made him think of angel wings. "Nice," he said. "Not tacky at all."

"Look at it closer," she urged him, with a gentle smile. "I don't think you've seen the real gift yet."

He didn't understand what she meant, but he did as she instructed anyway. That was when he realized the photo in the frame wasn't some generic print inserted by the manufacturer.

"How did you get this?" he wondered, staring at the picture.

"Liz emailed it to me."

He tore his gaze from the photo and looked at her instead. "She was really disappointed you weren't there at Christmas."

"I know, I hated missing it too, but…"

"You needed to get away."

She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I did," she said simply.

He looked back at the picture. "You missed a good day."

Lorelai turned the frame, so that she could see the picture, too. "This is such a fantastic shot, Luke. Did Liz take it?"

"Yeah."

Her smile turned mischievous. "I thought maybe it was T.J. It has all of the earmarks of a celebrated Etch-a-Sketch artist, you know."

"Or of a mother who really loves her little girl."

"And her brother," Lorelai added. "That's part of what makes it so special. Neither of you are aware of the picture being taken. You're just basking in the moment."

Luke tapped his finger against Doula. "Did you notice that everything you bought for her fits perfectly?"

"I did. I also noticed how she's mesmerized by her uncle. Look how fixated she is on you. She's definitely under your spell." A wistful sigh escaped her. "Liz was brilliant, taking this shot from over your shoulder. It's focused on Doula, but yet you're such a presence. The way you're holding her so lovingly. Your chiseled profile." She sighed again, purposefully this time. "Those to-die-for eyelashes."

Luke pulled a face. "Normally I'm not in the habit of decorating my place with my own picture, but thank you for this one. It's pretty special, and I'm going to enjoy seeing it every day."

She made a fist and lightly bumped her knuckles against his hand. "You're welcome."

He put his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor. "I'm really sorry I didn't get anything for you," he said, embarrassed.

"Not a problem," she insisted. "I'm the one who skipped out on Christmas this year."

"Well, I still feel like a jerk." He shook his head at his forgetfulness. "Are you going out to the Dragonfly tonight?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I'm planning on it."

"Want some company?"

"Love some company." Her bright smile confirmed it.

"Then you'll need these." He reached into his pocket and dropped the heavy ring of keys into her hand.

She spotted the difference immediately. " _Luke!"_ She held up the ornate dragonfly on the new key ring. "This is gorgeous!"

Luke leaned his elbows on the counter. "It reminded me of the dragonflies on those old postcards of yours. Art nouveau, or deco, or whatever you said."

"Yes, exactly!" She was drinking in the details, running her finger over the turquoise and pearls set into the wings, the emerald stones that served as the insect's eyes. "Wherever did you find this?"

"Mrs. Kim's."

"You're kidding!" She laughed in disbelief.

"I spotted it that day you made me go over there with you. I went back later and bought it."

"You went to Mrs. Kim's on your own? You're braver than I am. That's why I made you go with me in the first place."

"I think she likes me, maybe? She knows I take good care of Lane. In any case, I didn't dawdle. I grabbed it, paid for it, and got out fast." Luke paused, briefly debating whether or not to say anything else. "I think she sort of gave me a warning about you, though, before I ran out."

"Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrows. "Let's hear it."

"Something about dragonflies being flighty, and the possibility that women who like such flighty bugs might act the same way."

They were both quiet as they contemplated those words.

"Well, maybe I'll prove her wrong on that," Lorelai said, unperturbed. Her attention returned to the key ring. "I do love this, though. Thank you so much for being a liar and buying me a present anyway."

He made his hand into a fist and lightly bumped it against hers. "You're welcome."

"How much do you still have to do before we head over?"

"Let's go now. I'll clean up the kitchen when I get back."

"You're sure? That's not your usual operating method."

Luke shrugged, already reaching for his jacket. "I like to mix it up sometimes."

Lorelai laughed, and the knowledge that he could still make her laugh gave him some reassurance. "Yes, that's _so_ you, Mr. Unpredictable. Let's go!"

* * *

Once they got there, Lorelai ran around like a five-year-old hopped up on sugar, getting more excited with every new item of construction she encountered. Luke stood back out of her way, smiling as he pictured a dragonfly dipping and swooping over a lake in some crazy pattern. The similarities were not lost on him.

"Oh, my God! They got the stained glass in!"

Emily Gilmore had found the small hexagonal window on one of her antiquing excursions. When she presented it to Lorelai and Sookie, she acted as if it made no difference to her if the girls wanted to use it or not, but when they flipped out over her find, Luke could see how pleased Lorelai's mother was to have her contribution appreciated.

Lorelai and Sookie decided to install the dragonfly window in the wall separating the entry from the dining room. Tom had trusted no one but himself to set it in place.

Seeing it framed so beautifully in the wall, Lorelai was almost beside herself in joy. "Pretty, pretty, _pretty_! Oh, I'm so glad we decided to put it here!" She was bouncing up and down on her toes.

"It does look nice," Luke agreed. "Tom knows his stuff."

"He does! Luke, look how amazing it looks! Doesn't it just change the feel of the whole place?"

"Yeah, it's great." The artsy glass was attractive, but he was ready to move on to something else.

Lorelai was still clasping her hands together and practically swooning over the placement of the stained glass. "So what did Chris think when he saw it?"

"Nah, this wasn't in yet when he was –" Caught, Luke stopped talking. "How'd you know?" he grumbled.

"He told me." She didn't sound especially mad. In fact, her voice had a deliberate, neutral quality to it.

"He _told_ you?" He thrust his hands into his pockets and stomped around for a few steps. "But he _said_ …" He cut off what was going to be a petulant, and ultimately self-serving complaint.

"Said what?" she wanted to know, sounding as if she already knew.

He rubbed a hand over his scowling face. "Never mind," he growled, but his irritation wouldn't let him keep silent. " _Why_ did he tell you after making such an issue over it?"

"Because he tells me everything." She took one more look at the stained glass before turning his way. "I think the more relevant question is, were _you_ going to tell me?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "I'm not sure."

"Well, at least that's honest." She looked around the area before she continued. "Why did you decide to bring him over here?"

"I don't know," he said, still angry at himself. "I guess because – he wasn't what I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought he'd be belligerent. Arrogant. But instead he was –" He floundered a bit, not knowing how to describe him.

"Charming, pleasant?"

"Yeah."

"Affable? Thoughtful?"

"That too."

"And he seemed so sincere, didn't he? You trusted him. He seemed so earnest. Sympathetic, even."

"Yes," he agreed, but more cautiously. "That's exactly the way it was."

She started to giggle. "Oh, Luke." She laughed harder. "Congrats! You met the real Christopher. He sucked you right in, didn't he?"

"I don't see what's so funny," he complained.

She tried to stop laughing, but couldn't. "No, it's not funny," she gasped out. "But it's just – so, _so_ Christopher!" The uncontrollable laughter made her weak and she eventually dropped down to sit on the floor, hanging her head between her knees as she fought the hysterical giggles escaping from her. "Oh, Luke," she said again, wiping her eyes.

"Not funny," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, it kinda is." She drew in a breath and swallowed down the last of her chortles. "'In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.'" She looked at him as solemnly as she could. "That's Elwood P. Dowd in _Harvey_."

" _Harvey_? You mean the old movie with the imaginary rabbit?"

"Well, he's a pooka, but yes, that's the one." She arranged her legs Indian style, trying to get comfortable. "I always thought that quote matched Chris to a 'T.' At some point in his early years, Chris looked in a mirror and realized he was never going to be the smartest guy in the room. However, he _was_ smart enough to recognize his strengths. He was born to be pleasant. He can be the most charming, the most amusing person you've ever met. The charisma, the affability, the big smile – he understands that employing those assets gets everyone on his side. He does pleasant like nobody else, and that means everyone in the universe gladly does his bidding. It's his secret weapon."

Luke shook his head at his own gullibility. "So you're saying he used me."

"Honey, he uses everybody, but that doesn't mean he didn't genuinely like you."

"Well, doesn't that make me feel better," he scoffed. He plunked down on the stairs. "It helps so much to know I'm not the only one he's conned."

Lorelai regarded him, tilting her head. "So what was the con?"

"What?" He was stewing so much over his misguided good deed that he couldn't follow her question.

"How did he con you? What was his angle?"

That got him out of his own head and made him reconsider the interaction with Christopher. "The truth is…I guess he didn't actually deceive me. He cares about you a lot, Lorelai, and he was worried that you were in over your head, or that something sinister was going on with this Dragonfly deal, and you weren't able to get out of it –"

"Sinister?" she interrupted, grinning. "Here? In Stars Hollow?"

Luke refused to laugh along. "That was part of the problem. He doesn't know Stars Hollow, and he felt shut out by you. Excluded. He didn't know what was going on, and you weren't keen to fill him in. He was hurt, I think, that you didn't want to share this with him. And above all, I think he was just…missing you." He caught her eye. "And on that point…I could relate."

He could see her absorbing what he'd said. Eventually she nodded her head. "Well, as long as you promise not to lie to me ever again, I think we're good."

"Hey, I did _not_ lie to you!" he stated emphatically. "That was the first thing I told him when he asked me to keep his visit quiet. I told him I wasn't ever going to lie to you."

"Are you sure this wasn't basically lying by omission?" she challenged him.

Luke thought back to what Christopher had asked of him, that day in the diner. "He didn't want it to look like he didn't trust you. He was worried you'd conclude he was sneaking around behind your back, and that would just make matters worse."

"But that's exactly what he _was_ doing!"

Luke nodded vigorously. "I told him that, too!"

Lorelai bit her lips together, trying not to start laughing again. "How about this? You agree not to keep anything from me, ever. If something happens that you _know_ I should know about, you tell me. Pretty simple rule, right? Easy to follow?"

"It won't happen again," he promised. He rubbed his hands on his knees. "It shouldn't have happened this time, either, no matter how pleasantly and charmingly it was presented."

"Sounds good." Lorelai got to her feet and dusted off the seat of her jeans. "I want to go upstairs now and see what progress they made up there. You've got the super jumbo flashlight?"

Luke stood up on the stairs, blocking her path. "There's something you should probably know, first."

"Yeah?"

"There are no doors."

"What do you mean, there are no doors? Why are there no doors?" she demanded, her voice getting sharper.

"Look, let's go on up, and I promise you, I will tell you every single thing I know about the doors." Steeling himself for rejection, he held his hand out to her.

For a blink of an eye, she hesitated, but then took his hand firmly. "You leave out _nothing_ ," she warned him.

"I wouldn't dare," he assured her. He turned and flicked on the flashlight. "Now, watch your step."

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** When I first sent the broad outline of this story to Eledgy, I added on something like 'Hmm, I guess Chris will have to show up at some point' and her response was basically 'Ugh! Please no Chris! I'm so sick of him!' I think I sort of promised I'd block him, but then the idea for this chapter nestled into my brain and I let Chris come for a visit after all. Oh well, at least in this universe he doesn't seem to be _as_ annoying, right? Plus I loved the idea of Lorelai stating the "One Simple Rule" that would have had so much impact in that other world. More on this in an upcoming chapter...

Thanks to all of you who rallied around me when my confidence faltered. Sometimes it feels like I shoot all of these words out into the ether and they just disappear. It's beyond lovely to know that you're out there reading, and that some of the words resonate with you. I owe you all big time! How does three more chapters and an epilogue sound?


	12. Whose Life Is It, Anyway?

_February_

" _Luke!"_ Lorelai barged into the diner, hyper with excitement. Giggling, she ran up to the counter. "Do you know what's going on out there?"

He paused the menu planning for the next week and glanced out the front window, where he could see Taylor standing pompously at a podium and what appeared to be the rest of Stars Hollow milling about on the square. About half of the onlookers were toting baskets. "Of course I know," he responded. "The same insanity that goes on every year in the middle of February."

She climbed onto a stool and pulled off her knitted hat. "Then why didn't you tell me about it?"

He focused on her and saw a light sprinkling of snowflakes clinging to her hair. A few were stuck to her eyelashes, sparkling with reflected light. He thought briefly about the picture frame she'd given him for Christmas, and even more fleetingly, he considered using his fingertips to gently brush away the snowflakes before they melted. Instead he swallowed hard and looked back down at the calendar page where he was penciling in daily specials. "How did you _not_ know?" he countered. "I thought you had an in with the town council about all this crap."

"I've been busy," she said defensively. "I'm still catching up from my vacation. And besides, this is geared mostly for Stars Hollow residents, so they didn't need me trying to market it. I knew something was coming up, I just didn't realize it was something this fun."

" _Fun?"_ Luke twisted the word into something disgusting. "Yeah, right."

"It is! It's charming! If I'd understood what was going on, I would have totally made a basket!"

He looked at her skeptically. "Really? And what would you have put into this hypothetical basket? A couple of stale Pop Tarts and a Slim Jim?"

She glared at him. "You do realize that my business partner and best gal pal is a top-notch chef, right? You don't think she would have put together a basket for me if I'd asked?"

"Then why didn't you ask?"

"Because, as I've already stated, I wasn't aware it was a thing!"

"Sookie didn't tell you about it? Or Patty? Or Babette?"

Lorelai opened her mouth to argue, but then seemed to lose her drive. "Maybe they did," she muttered. "My head's been…elsewhere lately. It's possible they mentioned it but it just didn't stick."

Her rare admission of personal failure got his attention. He tried to study her without looking like that was what he was doing. "What's got you so stressed? Work or the Dragonfly?"

"Both," she sighed. For a moment her face went blank as she slumped in her seat. She quickly rallied, shaking off the small bout of depression. "Just a couple more months, though. This hard patch will be over soon. Once the Dragonfly is up and running I'll be swimming in free time!"

"Right," Luke said wryly. "Business owners have nothing but free time."

"That's what I've heard," Lorelai confirmed with a grin. "So tell me, if you have all this free time, why aren't you out there bidding on a basket?"

Luke snorted dismissively. "If you ever see me doing that, you'll know it's time for me to take my place at Pine Hills Nursing Home because senility has kicked in. Bring on the mushed-up peas."

"Aww, come on. You'd bid on my basket, wouldn't you?"

"No," he scoffed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because we're friends? Because I do stale Pop Tarts and Slim Jims like nobody else?"

"You know I don't participate in anything that goes on out there." He waved his hand out toward the crowd in the square.

"Oh, I forgot. Forced socialization is a fate worse than death." She hopped down from the stool and put her hat and gloves back on.

"Finally. Someone who understands."

Lorelai stopped on the way to the door, turning around to see him. "But seriously, Luke. You _really_ wouldn't bid on my basket?"

"I _really_ wouldn't bid on your basket, neither real nor imaginary," he confirmed, his attention going back to his interrupted menu planning.

He was aware that she continued to hold her position for several long seconds, watching him. "OK," she finally said. "Good to know where I stand."

He looked up in time to see her plaintive smile before she exited the diner. When the door opened he could hear Taylor's auction chant and the ongoing teasing and laughter of the crowd. It did sound as if everyone was having a great time.

And immediately he realized just how big a mistake he'd made.

* * *

It was the next Thursday, shortly after two o'clock, when the bells over the door chimed out, drawing Luke's attention. He was surprised to see Lorelai enter. It was an odd time for her to be in town, let alone frequenting the diner.

Nevertheless, he grabbed a cup and a pot of coffee and headed her way.

She pulled out a chair at the first table she came to, and sat down as if she didn't have enough strength to walk further. Chilled by the empty expression on her too-pale face, he got to her as fast as he could.

"What's going on?" He poured a cup of coffee for her automatically. When she made no move to take it, he pushed it closer to her. When she still ignored it, he sat down across from her. "Lorelai? What's wrong?"

Startled, she sucked in a huge gulp of air, as if she hadn't thought to breathe for a while. "I…I quit my job."

"You _what_?"

"Quit. My job. I quit." She took another super deep breath. "I walked out."

Luke was so stunned he merely stared at her for several minutes before he realized that he should get her to talk about it. "Did I miss something? Were you planning on that?"

She shook her head, but made no effort to add any other words of explanation. She was shivering, he noticed, and he touched her hand in concern. "Geez, Lorelai! You're a block of ice!" He began to chafe her hands in his. "Where's your coat and gloves?"

She looked down at herself blankly. "Um…" Slowly, she looked outside, maybe to wherever her car was parked. "I don't…I don't know."

It began to dawn on Luke that she was in shock. He'd dressed for the weather that morning, adding a thermal long-sleeved Henley to his usual clothing choices, so it was no hardship for him to share his flannel shirt. He draped it over her shoulders and tucked it in around her as much as he could. He molded her hands around the hot cup of coffee. "Drink some, OK? It'll warm you up."

Her hands shook as she tried to raise the cup, so he helped her get it to her lips. He nodded approvingly as she sipped at it. "Better?" he asked, also guiding the cup down.

She nodded, finally focusing on him. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Do you feel like talking? What happened?"

"Well, uh…" She frowned, as if she was actually thinking about what to say, and not just spaced out due to shock. "Daniel called me in to his office, right before lunch."

"That's your boss, right?"

"Yeah. He owns the agency."

"OK. And then what happened?" Luke glanced around the diner covertly. He was the only one working at the moment. Luckily, the few customers present seemed riveted to what was going on with Lorelai, and weren't clamoring for his attention.

"I thought he probably wanted to talk about some new accounts. You know, discuss what they needed, deadlines, that kind of stuff. But instead…" She breathed deeply again, and her cheeks flushed with sudden anger. "He told me it had come to his attention that I wasn't pulling my weight." Lorelai glared at Luke, as if he'd been the one to say it. " _Pulling my weight_ ," she repeated sarcastically.

"Whoa," Luke commented, trying to stay neutral.

"After all the years – _the years_ – I've spent making sure _his_ agency looked good! The weekends I spent scrambling to finish a project before a Monday morning deadline! The nights I never went home, because of some ridiculous, arbitrary timetable we had to meet! Do you know how many times _he_ sent _me_ out to meet with the customer, because he knew I'd be the one able to placate them? Because he knew I'd smile and make jokes and get them to accept the changes we'd made?"

"A lot?" Luke guessed, since she seemed to be waiting for a reply.

"Damn right, a lot! And I…well, I didn't actually mind," she grumbled. "I knew it was the best thing for the agency, and I was good at it. _Really good_ ," she said fiercely.

"Absolutely," Luke agreed, scared not to.

"And now," she stormed on, "just because I'm not as available as I used to be, now that I had the gall to actually use some of my vacation time, suddenly _now_ I'm not a team player? Suddenly I'm not pulling my weight?"

"Ridiculous," Luke murmured.

"You know, people told me all the time what a tyrant Daniel McCain was; how he used up his employees and then tossed them away! But I defended him, always, just because of the stupid cherry marshmallow Easter eggs!"

"What?"

"Never mind," Lorelai huffed. "Well, my eyes are open now, buddy. He doesn't have Lorelai Gilmore to kick around anymore. Who's going to go sweet talk the insufferable Shirley, the PR head at the Hartford mall, into sticking with us for another year now, huh?"

"Not you?"

"That's right, not me! Let's just see how much the mighty Mr. McCain likes doing his own dirty work!"

Luke nodded thoughtfully, then cleared his throat. "So how did you actually leave things with him?"

"How do you think? I said, that's it! I'm out! Hasta la vista, baby!" Lorelai shifted angrily back and forth on her seat. "I said if he didn't think I was working hard enough, then he could surely get along fine without me!"

"Hmm, OK." Luke was still trying to determine which lines she'd crossed in the argument with her boss. "And you actually said you quit?"

"Yes!" she insisted, but then she blinked and tilted her head. "Um, I think so, anyway. I mean, I was pretty emphatic about leaving. I'm pretty sure I made it clear that I was not coming back." Her face turned troubled. "I don't know that I even said anything to Nance, I blew out of there so fast. I just grabbed my purse and stalked out. Slammed a couple of doors." She looked down at her empty lap. "At least, I _think_ I grabbed my purse." She glanced out at the street again, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"Are you going to be OK?"

"Uh, sure? I'll get over it. I'll move on. I mean, I have to, right?"

"Of course you will, but, um…" Aware of their eavesdroppers, he leaned closer to her. "I meant financially."

She went still and stared at him. "Oh, yeah. Money." Her face paled again.

"Yeah, money. It's kind of important, especially when you're in the middle of a big building project."

"I'll figure it out," she said resolutely. "I'll have to figure it out," she insisted, but she looked less determined and more scared, and her voice lost its bluster. "After all, there are other people depending on me now," she said quietly. "It's all on my shoulders, isn't it?"

"Maybe it's not as bad as you think. Maybe you could still get your job back."

"Go back and grovel to that contemptuous, ungrateful ass? No way! I'll starve first!" she declared haughtily.

Their eyes met. Both of them knew he'd never let that happen.

"I'll be OK," she assured him. "I was probably going to quit anyway when the Dragonfly was ready to open. This just…moves things up a bit, that's all. It _will_ be OK," she repeated, putting on a brave face. "I _will_ figure out a way to make this work."

 _Even though you're not working_ , Luke thought, but wisely did not say. He stood up from the table. "How about if I go get you a burger and some fries? I have a feeling you could use some food in your stomach to offset the drama."

"Maybe I need to save up my pennies and not be spending them on burgers and fries," she said soberly.

"New diner rule. First meal after you quit your job is free."

"Luke." She managed to smile, but just barely. "You can't keep doing that."

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but I can do it today."

"Wait. Here." She stood up too, took his shirt from off her shoulders, and gave it back to him. "Thanks for…rescuing the damsel in distress." She grimaced. "I hate that that's what I became today."

"Only for the briefest of moments. I'm just glad you knew to come here for help." He stepped a bit closer to her and lowered his voice. "And if things do go south, you know to come here again, right?"

She searched his face. "I'll be fine, Luke. But thanks. Thanks for propping me up today."

"My pleasure. Now, sit down and regroup. Drink your coffee. I'll have some food out to you in a jiffy."

When he reached the doorway to the kitchen he took a second to look back. Lorelai was hunched over the table, looking empty in a way that no burger in the world could replenish.

* * *

Mid-morning the next Monday, Lorelai appeared in the diner, looking casual but sharp in jeans and a shearling leather jacket. A weekend of being buoyed up by her Stars Hollow friends seemed to have restored her spirit. She greeted Luke with a big smile as she hopped up onto an empty stool at the counter. "Hey, guess what?"

"What?" Under the circumstances, he was willing to play along.

"Turns out that when you quit your job, your employer is really picky about getting your company-owned car back."

Luke stopped in his tracks. "Oh, no."

"Yeah, I hadn't thought about it either." She nodded her thanks as he pushed a cup of coffee her way.

"What are you going to do about a car?"

She shrugged. "Find another one, I guess." She sipped at the coffee. "Any suggestions about where to look?"

"Actually, yeah. I'd start at Gypsy's."

"Really?" She looked skeptical. "Gypsy sells cars?"

"Not as a rule, but she usually knows if anyone has one to sell, and sometimes she'll have a couple of vehicles at the garage that she's picked up here and there. In any case, she knows what to look for, mechanically. If you do find something, I'd recommend letting her look it over before you make a decision."

"OK, that's good advice."

"How about breakfast?"

"Thanks, but I had a box of stale Pop Tarts at home."

Luke cringed, hating to be reminded about his thoughtless comments on Bid-a-Basket day. "What's on your agenda for today?"

"Well, first thing, I'm turning in the agency's car before they send the cops after me."

"Come on. They wouldn't really do that, would they?"

"The joyless HR person who called me at precisely 8:01 this morning hinted that it was a strong possibility."

Luke was irritated on her behalf. "Let them try that. The county deputy is a pretty good friend of mine. I bet I could persuade him to look the other way."

Lorelai grinned. "Let's not get on the wrong side of the law, OK? Besides, it's _not_ my car. If I hadn't been so rattled on Thursday, I would have left it there then."

"But still, they don't need to act so uptight about it. Of course you're not trying to steal their car." He frowned. "How are you getting back home?"

"Sookie's going to follow me to Hartford in her car, and bring me back after I get everything buttoned up at the agency. Papers to sign, keys to return, stuff like that." She snapped her fingers at him. "That reminds me. Do you have any boxes I can take? I need to pack up my office."

"Yeah, I think there are probably some in the storeroom. I'll grab them for you before you head out."

"Thanks." She enjoyed another swallow of coffee before she looked around the restaurant. "You know, this isn't all bad. Here I get to sit in the diner after the breakfast rush is past, savoring an extra cup of coffee. Gives you a whole different perspective on life. It's nice not to be part of the rat race."

Luke sensed that she was trying extra hard to put a sunny spin on everything. "You know, I could go to Hartford with you," he offered. "You don't have to bother Sookie."

She smiled knowingly at him. "I shouldn't bother Sookie, but it's OK to bother you?"

"Not a bother," he insisted.

"Really? You could leave the diner, be gone over lunch, and it wouldn't upset your day at all?"

"I'm the boss. I make the rules. You'll find out what it's like to have that kind of power once the Dragonfly opens."

"Uh huh, right. Well, for today, Sookie's letting me ride shotgun on the way home. She doesn't have to work until the dinner shift, so she's got the time. We're going to get lunch, maybe look around for some more odds'n'ends for the Dragonfly while we're in Hartford."

" _More_ stuff?" He shook his head at her. "That extra room at your place has got to be ready to burst. I don't know how you've stored everything you've collected in there the way it is."

"I'm just glad I've got that weird little room off the kitchen to use as a storage space. I mean, what else would I use it for?"

"Don't know," Luke said with a shrug. "Maybe an office?"

"Yeah, maybe? I'll give that some thought once I can clear the room out and haul everything over to the Dragonfly."

"I can haul it all over for you. I'm the one with the truck."

" _Luke_ ," she said, laughing at his continued insistence on helping her. "Will you stop being so nice to me? I'm OK, really. I'm not going to have a breakdown or anything. It's all good. Promise."

"I know," he grumbled. He pushed away from the counter. "Let's go see how many empty boxes we can find for you."

She took a last mouthful of coffee and stood up too. "Thanks. I really do appreciate that. And…I appreciate you, too."

She said the last words so sweetly he thought she was teasing him, but when he glanced at her face he could see she meant them seriously.

"Look, just ask me first the next time you need something, OK?"

"Yes, boss! Will do!" She saluted him smartly as she waited for him to open the door to the storeroom.

"You can be a real pain, you know that?"

She grinned slyly. "Yes, I've heard that for most of my life."

Shaking his head, he proceeded to fill their arms with boxes.

* * *

Luke grabbed a pen and the order pad before answering the ringing diner phone, expecting to hear a request for carry-out. "Luke's!"

"Hey, hi. It's me."

Her voice on the phone gave him a sense of déjà vu. He remembered every detail about the first time she'd called the diner.

"Hi. What's up?"

There was an unusual pause of silence on her end. "Is there any chance you could come over to Gypsy's for a couple of minutes?"

He looked around the diner before craning his neck to see where Caesar was in the kitchen. "Yeah, probably. Why, did you find a car?"

"I found…something," she said vaguely. "I'd feel better if I could get your take on it."

"Uh, sure," he said, fearing what kind of four-wheeled disaster she might have found. "I'll run over as soon as I can."

"Thanks," she said, and hung up without one pop culture reference or double entendre.

When he got to Gypsy's, Lorelai was leaning up against a Jeep that looked as if it had baked to a golden tan in the sun. "This?" he questioned her, smiling. "I never would have thought you were the Jeep type."

"I'm not," she agreed, straightening up. She joined him in staring at the vehicle. "But I think she was."

"She?"

"You know who. _Her_."

"Why do you say that?"

She sighed in resignation. "You don't remember, do you?"

"I remember everything," he told her quietly. "You're the one who wasn't here."

"That first day in the park, I told you that she tried to take the gardener's car." Lorelai pointed at the Jeep. "This could be the twin of the one he drives."

They both regarded the Jeep again.

"Where'd you find it?" Luke made the decision to just act like a normal car guy, instead of a conduit to other dimensions.

"At a used car lot just this side of Hartford. The salesman says it's in great shape, and Gypsy agrees. Low miles, the oil is freshly changed, it runs beautifully, and even gets fairly decent gas mileage. The price is in my range. Plus, look at it. No more bottoming out on the way back to the Dragonfly."

"So what's the problem?"

Unsmiling, Lorelai studied him for a long minute, before pointing over at the edge of the garage's lot. "Is that the infamous bench?"

He nodded soberly, and she walked over to it and sat down. Reluctantly, he followed.

She tipped her head back to enjoy the late February sunshine. "Sometimes…this all really creeps me out, Luke."

He sat down next to her, gingerly. "Yeah, I hear you. Me too."

She raised her head. "I mean, sometimes I feel like she got to write the script, and now we have no choice but to follow along."

"Then don't buy the car. No one's forcing you to do anything!"

"But I _like_ the car! That's what's so annoying!" She shook her head angrily. "How did she get to be so much better at life than I am? Why is she so much smarter about what makes me happy? How could she figure this all out and I can't?"

"There was nothing wrong with how your life was before, was there?"

"But this is better. This is all so much better!" Agitated, she wrapped her hand around his arm and gave it a slight shake, desperate to make him understand.

In response, he placed his own hand over hers, in memory of the current that had flashed between them on that other day. Today, the shock of awareness once again electrified his senses.

Lorelai gasped and pulled her hand away, staring wide-eyed at him.

"Yeah. That's nothing new," he commented as calmly as he could.

She blinked numerous times, watching him. He waited for her to say something about what they'd just experienced.

Instead she jumped off the bench and began walking towards the vehicle. "I'm buying the Jeep!" she announced crossly.

He followed her. "You're sure?"

"Yes, damn it all!"

"Do you want me to come along?"

"Yes!" She stopped beside the Jeep, breathing erratically, and Luke honestly thought she was going to kick the crap out of it. Instead she whipped around to him. "Because even though I'm perfectly capable of buying this car on my own, I know they'll only take me seriously if a man is there with me!"

"Hold on. Why are you so mad at me?"

"I'm not!" she yelled.

"Then you're doing a really good imitation of it."

She caught her breath and wiped a hand over her eyes. She turned towards the street and looked at what she could see of the town. "You'd think…" she began, sounding a tad calmer. "You'd think, if this really was all written in the stars or something, if it was already all decided, that it'd be easier, wouldn't you?"

"What would be easier?"

She buried her face in her hands and groaned. "Never mind. Just get in the car." Her voice turned sarcastic. "Let's go make yet another crossover between the universes official."

"It's your life," Luke muttered as he passed her.

"Is it? Is it really now?" she demanded. She hopped up into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind her. "I'm not so convinced of that, are you?"

* * *

 _March_

Luke was bussing one of the window tables when he saw the Jeep drive past. He expected the door to open and Lorelai to appear in short order. When that didn't happen, he looked out the window to see where she was.

She'd parked the Jeep and had gotten out, but was standing beside it aimlessly, her head tilted down, her hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. When she finally moved, it was to walk over to the gazebo. She sat down on one of the benches and slouched over, staring down at the floor.

He took the bin of dirty dishes to the kitchen and told Caesar he'd be back in a couple of minutes.

When Lorelai first quit her job, he'd assumed that he'd see more of her because she'd be in town all the time, but instead, the opposite had proven true. Maybe he actually _saw_ her more often, but it wasn't the same. The long talks he'd grown used to having with her late in the evening, when he was ready to close the diner, were no more. She spent as many hours as possible at the Dragonfly, so when nighttime came around, she was dead tired and ready to go home. There were no extra minutes to squander at the diner, talking to him. Also, because she was at the worksite all day, there was no reason for him to go out there with her in the evening. Their quality time had disappeared.

As Luke walked over to the gazebo, he thought about the attempts they'd both made in the past month to keep their friendship going. He'd suggested meeting up at K.C.'s, but it took only one drink, combined with Lorelai's usual state of exhaustion, to knock her out. He'd had to help her stagger home, much to her embarrassment. Next, she'd invited him over for a movie night at her place, but instead of enjoying a movie together, they'd both fallen asleep on the couch. The only positive that came out of that attempt was the fun Lorelai had in telling various scandalized townies that they'd slept together.

Luke rubbed at the small of his back, remembering the unplanned snooze. She had to have the most uncomfortable couch in existence.

"Doesn't look like you've had a good day," he observed, sitting down beside her.

She stared off in the distance. "I haven't."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

He waited for her to say something else, but she did nothing but continue to stare blankly. "Fine," he finally said, standing up. "Come into the diner if you want anything."

"No, Luke, wait." She roused herself enough to snatch at his arm and tug him back. "Of course I want to talk about it. I just don't have the brain power yet to put it into words."

"What's going on?" He retook his seat, genuinely concerned.

"I had to do something unthinkable today." She finally glanced his way. "I asked my parents for a loan."

Now he was the one staring, but at her. "Things have gotten that bad?"

"It's just things are getting to the end, and people need to be paid. And by that I mean everybody, and all at once. I didn't want to go to my bank, because I don't especially want the loan department to know I'm no longer employed. So I went to my parents, hoping that if I went to them in a business-like manner, they would be willing to treat the loan as a business proposition, and not as parents having to bail out their failing kid."

"You're not failing," Luke muttered.

"Not yet," she said, a ghost of a smile passing over her mouth. "Give me time, though."

"Did your parents say no to the loan?"

"No, they agreed to it right away." She looked pained. "Under one condition."

"Go on."

She turned to look at him directly. "I have to have dinner with them one night a week."

He almost laughed. "What?"

"They miss having me around. They say they don't see me enough. So, in spite of me trying to be all business-like and proper about borrowing money from them, they made it as personal as possible."

"Well, that's not so bad, is it?"

"I guess not," she sighed. "Mom tried to pin me down on a set day and time, but Dad convinced her that we'd need to play it by ear depending on what's going on at the Dragonfly. He even suggested that they drive to Stars Hollow some weeks and eat here with me instead." She suddenly glared at him. "Are you ready to feed my parents, if necessary?"

"Sure, I can do that, as long as they're not expecting anything fancy."

"The way my father still fondly reminisces about the hamburger you made for him, I don't think fancy will be an issue."

They shared a moment of silence together.

"You know," Luke reminded her, a bit reproachfully, "you were supposed to come to me if money got tight."

"I think that our relationship is already plenty weird, Luke. I really didn't want you to be my loan officer too."

"I wouldn't be your loan officer! I'm your friend. You know that!"

"Exactly. Let's keep it that way."

They set in silence again, Luke stewing a bit over her rejection of his offer to help. After a minute or two, he heard her trying to stifle a giggle. "What?" he wanted to know.

She gave him one of her flirty smiles. "I was just wondering what the terms of your loan would be. My parents want a weekly dinner. What would you want from me?"

Usually he was pretty good at deflecting her spicier comments. Either he rolled his eyes and refused to respond or he said something ridiculous to shut her down. And sometimes, if he felt flirty enough himself, he was willing to play along. But today her question had caught him by surprise, and there was only one thing that immediately popped into his brain. Since this morning had been one of the infrequent days when he used a razor on his face, there weren't any whiskers there to hide the hot flush on his cheeks.

Lorelai laughed in delight at his discomfort. She jumped up from the bench and ran around the gazebo in sort of a Rocky-esque victory lap, throwing her arms up over her head. "Yay! I am still a young and desirable woman!"

"Will you quiet down? And was there really any doubt of that?" Luke muttered.

Grinning, she stopped in front of him. "Maybe," she said, shrugging. "Cats showed up on my porch the other day, so it's nice to have my vitality confirmed." She held her hand out to help him off the bench. "Let's start small. What would you need as collateral to spot me a cup of coffee?"

* * *

 _April_

The door to the diner opened. Lorelai poked her head inside at the same time she rapped against the door frame. "I know it's really late, but is it OK if I come in for a little bit?"

"Of course!" Luke waved her in. "I haven't started closing down yet. Come on in." As she closed the door and began to walk to the counter, Luke noted the tiredness in her walk, the exhaustion evident on her face. "You look beat."

"Thanks," she said smartly, taking a seat on her favorite stool. "You really know how to make a girl feel special."

"You know what I mean. It just looks like you've had a hard day, that's all."

"They're all hard," she muttered. "But yeah, I guess this one was harder than most." She yawned, then propped her head on her hand.

"Do you want coffee?" Luke glanced over at the machine. "There's still a little bit at the bottom of the pot, but I make no guarantee that it's actually drinkable. Of course, that's never seemed to bother you before."

After a moment of consideration, she shook her head. "I think I'll pass. I've had so much coffee today I feel like my insides are swimming in it."

"Are you delirious?" Playfully, he placed his hand briefly against her forehead. "Or is this a sign of the apocalypse?"

She merely shook her head instead of firing a jab back at him. "I think I'm just coffeed-out."

"Do you want something else?"

Her weary eyes tracked over the visible offerings before landing on his face again. "I think I just wanted the company. I feel like I haven't talked to you in days."

A nice warm glow lit up his own insides. "That's true. You've been mostly a blur for the past month. My banter's getting rusty."

"Last push, you know? Just a couple of weeks left before the Dragonfly – supposedly – opens."

"You'll make it."

"Hope so." She sighed and looked around the counter again. "Hey, do you have a cupcake?"

"Does this look like a bakery? No."

"How about a muffin?"

"Nope, all gone."

"A doughnut? Anything even remotely dessert-like?"

He looked around. "How about a slightly de-iced Danish? That might be the best I can do." He slipped the damaged pastry onto a plate and sat it in front of her.

She stared at it for a moment. "By any chance, do you have a candle?"

Sometimes he was slow at picking up on clues but this one he understood immediately. "You're kidding me. It's your birthday?"

Keeping her head down, she nodded.

"Aww, Lorelai, why didn't you say something? I would've made something special for you if I'd known."

"It's OK," she said quickly. "I thought that was the way I wanted it. I feel so pulled apart right now, so over my head in to-do lists, I thought it would be nice to be able to just skip all of the birthday hoopla. No forced gaiety in the breakroom. No awkward singing in a bar after work. I could just keep working and ignore it."

"What about Sookie? Your parents?" He took a breath before trying the last name. "Christopher?"

"Sookie doesn't know. No one in town knows. My parents are out of town right now, so they gave me a present before they left. Christopher –" She sighed. "He never remembered it, even when we were together, unless Mom reminded him."

"You know the whole town would have thrown you a party," he pointed out, a little reproachfully.

"I do know," she agreed, "and I didn't want that. I didn't want a big thing, and that's why I kept quiet. Any other year I like the over-the-top productions, but I'm so overwhelmed right now, even the idea of getting together with a couple of friends seemed like too much effort." She smiled sadly at him. "But now it's the end of the day, I'm incredibly tired, and I feel like I don't have a friend left on earth. It's supposed to be my special day, but no one's even wished me a happy birthday." She laughed, but by the sound of it, she was edging towards tears. "It turns out that being ignored on my birthday wasn't what I wanted after all."

He already felt bad enough without the ominous threat of tears. "Here." He pushed a mug her way. "I know it's not coffee, but I was making a cup of tea for me. Try it, OK? You might find it sort of soothing. Drink some tea, nibble on the Danish. I'll be back out with something else for you as fast as I can."

"Luke, no!" She tried to grab for his hand. "I don't want you to fuss. I didn't come in here to make more work for you. I just needed a friendly face."

"Too late. I know the truth now, and this is something – as your friend – I want to do." He backed towards the door to the kitchen. "Eat. Drink. I'll be back soon. Just don't expect anything too elaborate."

Inside the kitchen he looked around frantically, trying to think of anything he could whip up to fit the birthday bill. He glanced back out at the counter, watching as Lorelai tentatively tried the tea. She grimaced at the first mouthful, but then sniffed at the cup before trying it again. She broke off a piece of the Danish and nibbled at it before taking a more enthusiastic sip of tea.

Feeling like he now had more time, Luke catalogued the ingredients he had at his disposal. There was still some meatloaf left from lunch. He cut off two thick slices, then used a biscuit cutter to round them into discs before throwing them into the microwave to warm them up. Normally not a fan of instant mashed potatoes, he nevertheless had a box stashed away in case of emergencies – which this certainly was. He grabbed the kettle of almost-boiling water he'd used for his tea and mixed up a serving of spuds. Once the meatloaf was hot, he put one round on a plate, placed a slice of cheese on it, then topped it with the second piece of meatloaf. He iced the entire creation with mashed potatoes before halving a couple of cherry tomatoes and placing them artistically around the sides. As a finishing touch, he decorated the top with an "L" made out of sliced black olives.

He stepped back and regarded his creation critically. _Not bad_ , he decided.

Next he found a utility candle stashed in a drawer, along with some matches. Now he had cake, of a sort, complete with a candle. So far, so good.

If only he could find something like a card…

His eyes landed on the day's edition of the Stars Hollow Gazette. He leaped on it, quickly flipping through the pages. What he was hoping to find, he didn't know. Just anything that might serve as a birthday greeting.

He reached the horoscope page. Was that a possibility? He scanned down to Taurus. _The bull._ "Well, that's appropriate," he muttered. The daily horoscope was bland and stupid, something about relishing your personal freedom. Making an instant decision, he cut it out, then blacked out what had been printed there. With no time to lose, he didn't waste any by second-guessing himself. _The next year will see all of your dreams come true_. He snorted at the goofy sentiment he'd written down, but it was too late now. He put the candle, matches, and the doctored horoscope into his shirt pocket, picked up the 'cake' and made his way back to the counter.

It was all worth it when Lorelai's face lit up. "What did you do?" she wanted to know, sounding much happier.

He put the culinary endeavor down in front of her with as much of a flourish as he was capable of. He placed the candle to one side, then lit it before stepping back.

"Aren't you going to sing to me?" she teased him.

He shifted his feet and took a deep breath as if in preparation, but then he leaned forward and landed a swift kiss to her forehead instead. "No," he said.

She giggled, obviously delighted with his efforts. "What am I looking at here?"

He held up a finger. "Don't mess with tradition. You make a wish first, blow out the candle, _then_ cut the cake."

"Oh, suddenly we're bound to tradition?" Despite her protest, she obediently closed her eyes for several seconds, and, after opening them, blew out the candle. "There," she said.

Luke nodded, picked up a knife and sliced her a piece of the 'cake,' exposing the secret within.

"Is that…?" Lorelai stuck a finger in the 'icing' and put it to her mouth. "Mashed potatoes?"

"And a meatloaf cake, filled with a layer of cheese," Luke further explained. He handed a fork to her.

"I think I can safely say that this is the most disgusting thing anyone's ever made for me." However, she took a bite and dissolved into pleasure. "Oh my God. _Luke_." She put a hand over her mouth as she chewed. "This is fantastic. Forget the cake and the icing roses. From now on, this is my birthday request."

"It's really OK?" he asked, relieved that she found his last-minute recipe acceptable.

" _Sooooo_ good." She stuffed another bite into her mouth. "Seriously. It's perfect."

"How's the tea? Would you rather have something else?"

"It's not bad." She leaned over and sniffed at it again. "Is it peppermint?"

"Yeah, my favorite. Kind of a nice way to wind down at the end of the day."

She took another sip and then smiled at him. "I can see how it has a mellowing effect."

"I think I'll go fix myself another cup and join you, if you don't mind."

"Please," she agreed, licking off her fork.

When he returned, he came around the counter and sat on the stool next to her. While he waited for his tea to steep, he pulled the horoscope out of his pocket and slid it her way. "Here. Sort of a make-do birthday card, too."

At first she looked puzzled, but then she laughed, and then she went quiet. Her eyes turned dewy again. "Do you really think that could happen?" she asked him, her voice hesitant, but yearning. "All of my dreams coming true?"

He was going to make some sort of joke, but the look of longing on her face made him reconsider. "I hope so, Lorelai. I really do."

She nodded and rubbed the thin piece of newsprint between her fingers, before reaching for her purse and extracting her wallet. "I think I'll keep this. You know, kind of as a good luck charm or something."

"Collateral," he suggested, and that made her laugh.

They sat and chatted during the time it took Lorelai to finish her birthday meal. "Nice to catch up," she sighed, putting down her fork for the last time.

"Nice to see you for longer than it takes to pick up a carry-out order," he agreed.

"Yeah, I know, I'm the one who's been MIA for the last month or so. Tell you what, once the Dragonfly's open, why don't we plan a day away from the grind? Maybe we could go see a movie or get out of town or something like that?"

For once he was the one smiling at her naiveté. "I hate to remind you, but once the place is up and running you'll be busier than ever, boss lady."

"Ugh, that detail must have been buried in the fine print of _How to Open Your Own Inn for Dummies_."

He glanced back at the street, not sure if her Jeep was parked out there or not. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, I'm fine, Luke, but thanks. Thanks for everything. You've definitely lifted my spirits. I no longer feel alone and unloved."

"That was the plan." He bumped his elbow against hers. "Happy birthday," he said lightly. "I'll go mark it on my calendar so I'll be prepared next year."

"Yes, that way you can make sure to have meatloaf available that day." She stepped down from the stool and immediately winced in pain. She reached for the counter to steady herself and bit down on her lips against the hurt.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He jumped from his stool and went to stand behind her. "Your back?" he guessed.

"No big deal," she bluffed. "I painted a couple of ceilings today. I must have tweaked it at some point."

Luke made a fist and gently rubbed the knuckles into the small of her back. "Here?"

She dropped her head and groaned. "Oh, my God, Luke, _yes_! That is _exactly_ the spot. How did you know?"

He shrugged, even though she couldn't see him. "When my back hurts, it seems like it always hits right there." Buoyed by her response, he dug his knuckles into her back a little harder and moved them around in a small circle, trying to judge where the massage would do the most good.

Her head lowered further. Bracing her arms against the counter, she pushed back against his hand, moaning in relief.

And then…everything tipped. He became super aware of their positions, of his hand on her back, and of her delicious moaning response. Friendship was the last thing on his mind. Even the fact that she'd been in pain faded from his consciousness. The only thing left was the most agonizing flame of desire.

Slowly, even though he was vaguely aware he was crossing a line, he slid his hands from her back to her hips.

She inhaled sharply and straightened up. Instead of leaning against the counter, she leaned back, putting her weight on him.

His hands anchored her hips in place against him. She moaned again, but in a totally different way.

It was too much. Everything was too much. He recognized that, but he couldn't move. Thankfully, Lorelai could. She yanked her body away from his. She held on to the counter again for a moment, breathing hard, before she dared to turn around.

"Sorry," they both said at the exact same time. Their voices sounded the same too: breathless, drenched with desire, ashamed.

She grabbed her purse and coat and walked to the door as fast as she was able. From the way she was wincing, it was obvious that her back was still hurting her.

Instinctively, Luke knew he couldn't let her leave that way. He caught her arm before she reached the door.

"Don't. Let go," she warned him.

"No, Lorelai, we can't just ignore this. We can't keep pretending that there's nothing there."

"I'm not pretending. I've never pretended," she said raggedly. "But I can't handle this tonight. I promise – _I promise_ – I'll face this on another day. I will, Luke. I'll come back with jokes and insights and make this all OK. But tonight – I can't. I just can't. If you care for me at all, you'll let me go." Her voice was barely a whisper by the last word.

Of course he cared for her. He cared for her a great deal. There was no disputing that. So he did as she asked. He dropped her arm and let her go, even though he knew that was another mistake.

"Happy birthday," he tried to say, but she was already gone.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Well, here we are, folks. We're at the top of the roller coaster, ready to careen down. Wish me luck getting everyone to the end safely. _*Takes a deep breath in preparation*_

Thanks, Drew Carey, Chip Esten (Hi, Deacon!) and the rest of the improv crew for allowing me to alter your title for my own devices. (Yes, I know there's a new Whose Line but I prefer the original.) Now I'm off to finish what I suspect will be my new favorite chapter! BTW, I'm totally delighted at how all of the various pieces came together in this one - let's hope that luck holds out for a couple more chapters.


	13. The Other Lorelai

For probably the first time since he was six years old, Luke held tightly to the banister as he made his way down the stairs to the diner. Reverting to a childlike caution seemed like a sensible idea, especially on this morning when he didn't trust either his blurry eyesight or wonky sense of balance.

He flicked on the lights in the dining room and yawned, leaning tiredly against the wall for a moment. Briefly, he considered not opening at all, or at least letting Caesar be in charge for the day. A potent combo of lust, guilt and the desperate urge to instigate damage repair ASAP had set the stage for the worst sleepless night ever.

Nevertheless, he started the trek to the kitchen. _Damn Puritan work ethic_ , he grumbled in thought.

By the counter, he paused for a moment, trying to get his jumbled mind to concentrate. Geez, he did this same routine every freakin' day. You'd think that muscle memory alone would jumpstart the opening chores. He blinked at the coffee maker, wondering if a strong cup of tea might banish a couple of the cobwebs. But then the recollection of sharing a cup of tea with Lorelai the night before surfaced…and he recalled _exactly_ where that had led. Just like that, he was wide awake, and with an intense distaste for tea.

Before he could walk into the kitchen, he heard a faint noise from outside. He looked towards the front door. Possibly it was his unreliable eyesight, but he thought he caught a shadow playing against the closed blinds. Forgetting kitchen duties, he went to the door instead.

Cautiously, he peeked through two of the blind slats and spied a head of brown curls. He inhaled sharply and threw open the door.

"What are you doing here?" Luke put his hands under her elbows to help her up, and then ushered her inside. "Please tell me you haven't been sitting there all night."

Lorelai's eyes were glazed over with terror. She clamped her hands around his arms, panic making her grip unbreakable. "I can't _do_ this," she insisted to him, her words drenched in agonizing despair.

Luke assumed she was talking about the possibility of _them_. "Don't say that," he urged her. "You don't know for sure. Let's talk first, calmly, and then see where we end up."

She continued as if she hadn't even heard him. "No, I know I can't. I can't do this. What was I thinking? I know nothing about running an inn! I've never run _any_ business! You said it yourself! This whole idea is insane!"

"The inn?" He was desperately trying to catch up.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God." She hit her head against his chest with each lament. "I quit my job! Luke, _I quit my job!"_ Still grasping his arms, she looked at him frantically. "What the hell was I thinking? I have no money! This is not going to work! Oh God – I'm gonna fail! And I'm gonna take Sookie and everybody else down with me!"

"You're not –" He tried to peel her fingers from his arms. "Lorelai, take a breath. You're having a panic attack or something. You're not going to fail. The Dragonfly is going to be a huge success."

She shook her head vehemently. "No, I'm gonna fail! Tom's gonna sue me, and Sookie's gonna hate me, and the whole town is gonna throw me out for being such a fraud! I'm nothing but a huge, fat failure! My parents are gonna disown me! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," she wailed plaintively, hiding her face behind her hands. "God, Luke – what am I going to do?"

"You are _not_ going to fail!" he asserted.

Lorelai dropped her hands and looked at him brokenly, blinking back tears. "I can't do this," she whispered. " _I'm not her._ I'll _never_ be her. Why didn't I listen to you?"

If only he could kick his own butt. Since that was a physical impossibility, he went to her instead and folded her into his arms. He put a hand on the back of her head and encouraged her to rest it upon his shoulder. "There's no way you can fail," he said softly, directly into her ear. "You're too smart, and too capable. The Dragonfly is beautiful because _you_ made it that way. It's going to be a huge success because of all the hard work you've put into it. You picked all the right people and the Dragonfly is going to thrive. Sookie's food alone is going to put the place on the map. The inn is going to be amazing, and it's all because of you."

He felt her begin to relax in his arms. After a moment, she raised her head to look at him, slightly calmer. "We don't even have doors," she pointed out, still jumpy with anxiety.

"I promise you, if Tom can't deliver the doors in time, I will find a tree, cut it down, plane some boards, nail them together, and somehow turn them into doors. I swear to you, the Dragonfly will not open doorless."

"You'd do that for me?"

"In a heartbeat."

More tension dissipated from her, and she voluntarily tucked her head against his shoulder and neck again. "Maybe…Do you think that just maybe…this _will_ work?"

"Of course it's going to work." He gently patted her back, while rhythmically swaying, as if she were Doula. "You've already got one reservation, right?"

"Actually, we've got three," she updated him, reluctantly removing herself from his arms.

" _Three?_ Wow!" In an effort to be encouraging, he realized he was overplaying his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, the first lady called from out of the blue, and then Brad – he's one of Tom's guys – booked a room for a whole weekend to thank his parents for all of the days they've watched his new baby. And then, friends of the first couple who called decided to tag along, so they reserved a room, too."

"See? The buzz is starting. You'll be booked solid before you know it!"

"From your mouth to God's ear." Solemnly, she straightened his shirt, then undid her good deed by fisting her hands on his chest. "But Luke…even if it's a success…" She sighed. "What if it turns out that I hate it?"

"Hate what?"

"Running the inn. Owning the inn. What if it's not my thing after all? What if this was just a whim and I'm not cut out for it? What if this turns out to be my biggest mistake ever?"

He shrugged. "Then you sell it."

Her head snapped up to stare at him. "Just like that?"

"Of course you'd do your share of soul-searching first, but yeah, if it's not your dream business, sell it."

"That wouldn't count as a failure?"

"I don't see how. You've added so much value to the property, I can't imagine that you'd take a loss on it. And, you'd be able to list it as a success on your résumé. You took a dilapidated property and worked it into something state-of-the-art. Plus, look at the marketing you've done on it. It really is remarkable, what you've accomplished."

She frowned, considering what he'd said. "So…you don't think I'm locked into sticking with the Dragonfly forever if I hate it. I could get out of it, if I wanted to."

"Absolutely, but my suggestion would be to wait a year before you decide anything. Make sure what your feelings are." Luke tapped her on the shoulder, focusing her attention on what he was going to say. "It really is _your_ life, Lorelai. You get to make all the decisions about it."

"OK," she sighed, and to his surprise, tucked herself up against his chest for a third time. Willingly, he put his arms around her, hoping to absorb any remaining worries still floating about.

Maybe a minute later, he felt her yawn. "Did you sleep last night?" he wondered, thinking about his own lack of rest.

She pulled away with a snort, then rather angrily gestured at his hands. "Are you kidding? Of course not! _Sleep_ ," she scoffed.

So she _did_ remember what had happened last night. He was beginning to think that maybe her panic attack about the Dragonfly had cancelled it out.

"Did you sleep the night before last?"

"No," she said, still sounding miffed. "I stayed up and sewed pillows."

"Why did you do that?"

"For the Dragonfly!" She rolled her eyes.

He decided not to question that any further. "How about the night before that?"

"No, that was the night I got the idea about the pillows, so I stayed up to watch videos on the internet explaining how to do it, and then I dug out my sewing machine, and then I went through my fabric stash to see if I already had something I could use to make them."

He looked at her sternly. "When _did_ you sleep last?"

"I sleep," she said defensively.

"When?"

"When I die," she muttered. "OK, yeah, I see what you're getting at here."

He held out his hand. "Give me your phone."

"What? Why? No!"

"You're taking the day off, and that means from the constant phone interruptions, too."

"Who made you the boss of me? Didn't you just tell me it was my life, and I get to make all of my own decisions?"

"Once you're rested, you get the power again, but today, I'm staging an intervention. Give me the phone."

"Luke! I can't! You know I can't do that! There's _so_ much going on. I can't just take a day off!"

"I don't see that you have any choice. It's either sleep for a day or stay awake and drive yourself completely insane with worries again. Tom and Sookie are more than capable of going it alone. Let them prove it to you." He held out his hand again. "Phone."

With great reluctance, she handed it over. "But –"

"Nuh-uh, no 'buts.' I get the phone and you get to sleep. I'll call Sookie and Tom and let them know you're out of commission today." He put the phone in one pocket and pulled his keys out of another. He selected one key from the ring and held it up in front of her face. "Take this and go upstairs and get in bed."

Her cheeks pinked up as she looked at him a little nervously. "I'm doing what, now?"

Rather than be embarrassed by his choice of words, he decided to just bluff his way through it. "Go upstairs to my place and go to sleep."

"And why am I doing that?" she challenged him, in a stronger voice.

"Because that way you're not alone. If you start to panic again, you only have to come downstairs, and I'm here to help you get through it. Or Patty, or Babette, or someone else will be here to give you a hug and convince you it's going to be OK. Plus there's food and coffee down here. Everything you could want, in one convenient location."

Lorelai stared at the key for a few seconds. "You make a convincing argument."

"Of course I do. My brain's not fried from the stress, the way yours is. Now, go." He put the key into her hand.

She appeared to consider his statements for another moment or two before beginning to shuffle like a zombie over to the curtained entry.

"Help yourself to whatever you need up there," Luke called after her. "Anything in the refrigerator or bathroom is fair game."

She came to a stop at the curtain. "Except for moving the milk, right?"

Something that had been stuck inside of him for a long time came loose and crashed against his heart. "You can move the milk," he told her honestly. He realized immediately that the permission he'd just granted her was far more important than the key to his apartment.

Lorelai seemed to understand that too, as she turned back to look sharply at him. "I might just do that," she warned him.

Luke held her gaze. "I'll check on you later, but come down if you need anything, even if it's just company."

She seemed to be debating what to reply. "Thanks," she finally said, and disappeared through the curtain.

* * *

It wasn't until after the breakfast rush that Luke was able to run upstairs to check on his houseguest. He tip-toed in far enough to see that she was conked out on his bed. He stood and watched her for a little bit, glad that she was getting some rest. A lot of other thoughts swirled through his head too, but the one that stuck the most was: _I should get a new bed._

He checked on her again after lunch. By then she was snuggled down under the covers, still sound asleep.

It was fairly late in the afternoon before she appeared in the diner, doe-eyed, with tousled curls, and a slightly sheepish look on her face. "Maybe you should be the innkeeper," she said, handing the key back to him. "You're really good at the hospitality thing."

"Nah. I'll do the cooking, you can worry about renting out the rooms." He found that he couldn't look directly at her, not with the sexy hair and the fresh image of her asleep in his bed. He'd overheard a couple of high school girls a few weeks before giggling about one of their friends being 'smitten' with a boy. At the time, he didn't really understand what they were talking about. He got it, now. "So, are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, a lot." She smiled lazily, propping up her loose limbs on the counter. "Any disasters I should know about?"

"Not a one." He handed her phone back to her.

Lorelai took it from him and started to open it, but then changed her mind. She slipped it into her pocket instead. "I don't think I'm ready to rejoin the world quite yet. I think I'm going to go home, take a long hot bath, shave my legs, and wash my hair. In fact, I think I'll be totally decadent and soap it up twice, just the way the shampoo bottle recommends. I might even paint my toenails. And only when I feel sufficiently girly again will I check my messages."

"Sounds like a winning plan," he agreed, ducking his head against the idea of her feminine grooming.

With a sigh, she pushed away from the counter. "Thanks again, Luke. You're better than any shrink."

"Oh, hey, wait." He dashed into the kitchen and soon returned with a filled shopping bag. "I've been adding food to this all day, every time I had a partial serving left or something. Just some things you can take home and reheat. It should give you some meals for the next couple of days."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "You're feeding me scraps? Taking the Cinderella analogy a little far there, aren't we?"

He gave her a look of annoyance, which made her smile.

"Thanks again, Luke. You are the most awesome human being on the planet, and I will attest to that if anyone asks." She picked up the bag of goodies, pretending for a moment that it was too heavy for her to lift. She smiled at him, then started for the door.

"Get some more rest," he encouraged her.

"That's my goal!" she called back. "But if sleeping at my house is a bust again, expect a roommate!"

He grinned to himself. He wouldn't mind that at all.

* * *

Later that night, when Luke got back upstairs to his apartment, he found that Lorelai had put fresh sheets on his bed. He stood and admired the neat job she'd done. He wondered if the tight corners had been taught to her by a childhood maid, or if she'd picked up the method from one of her online hotelier seminars. In any case, he didn't think his bed had ever looked so tidy.

When he opened the refrigerator, looking for a bedtime snack, he discovered the milk was just where he left it, but there was a note tucked underneath the carton.

 _I_ _did_ _move the milk. But then I decided that the best place for it was where you had it to begin with, so I moved it back again. ;)_

He read the note over and over, smiling like a besotted fool.

Finally he got into bed, snuggling down into the fresh sheets. He had no trouble falling asleep at all.

* * *

He woke up on a couch.

In the first few semi-conscious moments after awakening, that didn't seem too odd. It wouldn't be the first time that watching Sports Center had knocked him out before he'd made it to bed.

But as he blinked and yawned, certain details from the day began to filter back to him. Lorelai's meltdown. The nicely-tucked sheets on his bed. The note under the milk carton.

He became aware of waning sunlight bathing the room in the golden glow of evening. The first notes of alarm skittered over him. _Evening?_ It had been full-on night when he went to bed. He scrambled to his feet, rubbing at a sore spot on his back, earned from sleeping on the uncomfortable couch.

The truth smacked him in the solar plexus. _This isn't my place._ Pure panic shot adrenaline through him and he ran blindly to the door. Terror kept him from questioning how he knew where the door was. He was already across the entry before he could comprehend that it looked familiar. He'd already pushed open the front door, the one with the frosted double windows, before he was able to recognize it. It wasn't until the porch railing was actually under his hand that it all truly registered.

He slowed his panicked escape then and looked down at the railing – one that he'd repaired not that many weeks ago.

Even more slowly, he walked down the remaining steps into the yard, and turned around.

The house was now blue. Just the way Lorelai said it should be.

Luke stared at the house before him, breathing hard. Wisteria vines lined the porch, dripping their delicate purplish-blue flowers everywhere.

Understanding, but not yet believing, he backed a few more steps out into the yard. He could clearly see the Dell's house to his left, Babette's gnome collection running rampant over their lawn. It was only then that he realized the gigantic privacy fence between the properties was missing. His eyes skipped all over the houses and yards, trying to take it in. There was some sort of wooden archway in Lorelai's side yard, covered in carved animals. One…looked like a goat? He shook his head. _What the hell?_

Not knowing what else to do, he made his way back inside the house. In the entry, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror hanging there, confirming that it was indeed him. He reached out and touched the glass, needing to feel the realness of it.

He walked to the entrance of the living room and stopped. It was all eerily familiar, if not exact. The monkey lamp, he knew. The primitive wooden doll on the bookshelf was where it should be. The flowered lampshade was on the opposite side of the room, but still, it was there. The most uncomfortable couch known to man had to be a duplicate. The rest of the room _felt_ like stuff Lorelai would pick out, even if it wasn't a perfect match.

Padding footsteps somewhere in the house made him catch his breath. A large dog, with shaggy white and gray fur, appeared from the kitchen. He sat and regarded Luke curiously for a minute, before getting up and happily heading his way.

"Well, that's different," Luke muttered.

Right before he reached Luke, the pooch stopped abruptly, sniffing the air. Frightened, he backed away, then turned and ran back into the kitchen.

"No offense taken," he called after the dog. "I'd do the same thing if I could."

His eyes went to the staircase in the living room. Curious to see if the layout of the house varied from universe to universe, he proceeded upstairs.

He was surprised to see that the upper level had been recently renovated. He could still smell the varnish and new paint. The bathroom had been enlarged and connected to the bedroom, and a big closet was now a part of the new master suite as well. He nodded, approving of the changes.

It was such a strange sensation, to feel like he was trespassing, but at the same time, to feel completely comfortable in the almost-familiar house. There was a flannel shirt hanging on a hook behind the bathroom door. He opened up the big closet and found more plaid shirts sharing space with Lorelai's dresses and blouses.

The idea that he – no, no – the _other_ Luke, lived here with the other Lorelai was unsettling and also seemed perfectly natural.

Walking downstairs, photographs lined up on the fireplace mantle caught his eye. They drew him over for a look.

The framed print in the center of the mantle was of Lorelai – the _other_ Lorelai – and a beautiful young woman. An unexpected sensation of loss hit him as he picked it up. "Rory," he murmured, staring at her. No doubt whatsoever who her mother was.

He could tell the depth of the bond between the two of them, just from the photograph. He could see the love and the pride Lorelai had in her daughter. He instinctively understood how this relationship had been the main focus of both their lives. No wonder Lorelai had been so distraught to find herself someplace where Rory didn't exist.

Sighing, Luke returned the picture to its place of honor, noticing that many of the other frames also held images of Rory in varying stages of her life. There was one where she was posed with Emily and Richard, another where she was in a cap and gown, proudly holding up a diploma.

His eyes flicked to the other side of the mantle. For a moment he was startled almost out of his skin, seeing himself. No wonder sci-fi canon decreed that no one dared to meet themselves during time travel. Way, _way_ too weird.

The subject matter of the photo also disturbed him. In the shot, he and Lorelai were standing in the gazebo, kissing passionately, and strangely, holding beer bottles behind each other's backs. Twinkle lights were shining all about them, making it look as if they'd been transported into a fairyland. Or to another universe, or…something like that.

Moving his eyes to the next picture made him gasp. "Geez, Mia!" He felt compelled to pick it up, the better to confirm what he was seeing. In it, Lorelai and Mia stood with their arms around each other, apparently in the throes of gleeful happiness. A younger Rory sat in the grass in front of them, while Sookie grinned at the camera from Mia's other side. The Independence Inn sprawled majestically behind them. "Mia," he sighed, replacing the picture in its designated spot. How he wished she was still smiling so happily in his world.

Reeling from the gut-punch of the photographs, Luke walked aimlessly through the living room and eventually traveled down the little hallway into the kitchen. His cursory examination led him to the same conclusion: not everything in the room was an exact match to the items he knew existed in his reality, but there was enough overlap to confirm it. Plus, it just felt the same. He noticed some cookbooks, a set of knives, and a large frying pan that he knew without doubt had been incorporated into the space by this Luke.

The strange dog cowered underneath the kitchen table. "I'm not going to bother you," Luke assured the nervous creature.

He began to return to the living room, passing by the small room Lorelai had stuffed full with Dragonfly treasures. Abruptly he stopped and went back.

"Of course," he said in understanding, peering in through the doorway. It was Rory's room. In this universe, the room had purpose and function. "Of course it's her room."

He took in the travel posters on the wall, the overabundance of Yale paraphernalia. _Wow_ , he thought, impressed, but then he remembered that Lorelai – _his_ Lorelai, at least – had gone there too. The room was also home to a large collection of books. They filled the bedside table, were stacked in corners of the room, and overflowed several bookcases.

One bookcase in particular beckoned him in. He ran his hands over it and studied the joinery. He'd bet his last dollar that his twin had constructed it. His father – _their father?_ – had taught them both well when it came to woodworking.

Leaving the room, he noticed a collage of pictures taped to the wall. "Aww, no. _Lane_." The pictures showed Rory and his favorite employee posing together from childhood to present day, surely emphasizing their best friend status throughout their lifetimes. "Geez, Lane, I'm so sorry," he said, full of regret that she'd missed out on such a crucial relationship in her life.

Once again he was ready to exit the room, but the pictures of Lane suddenly gave him another idea. He turned and looked at Rory's desk.

Normally he'd never consider rifling through someone else's possessions, but extraordinary circumstances sometimes demanded unlikely actions. Slightly ashamed, he sat down on her desk chair and began pulling open the drawers.

He found what he was looking for in the large bottom drawer of the desk. They'd been carefully packed away in a plastic pencil case, and neatly hidden from view underneath a stack of well-used journals.

 _Pictures of his nephew._

Luke's hands were shaking as he examined the pictures. In them Jess looked so happy; so healthy. His face wasn't gray or gaunt, the way Luke had seen him last. Instead there was a spark to him, a vibrancy, especially when he was smiling at the person behind the camera, whom Luke assumed was Rory. The pictures of the two of them together showed teenagers thrilled with the promise of young love. The promise of a young life still to be lived.

He looked again at the picture which had been on top of the stack. In it, Rory had shorter hair and bangs, and Jess looked urban and dapper in a t-shirt and suit coat. Pleased, they held a paperback book between them.

Wait – that title. The title on the book. He'd just seen it, he knew he had. He jumped up and went to the bookcase, the one he was positive Luke #2 had built. Sure enough, the book was displayed on the top of it.

 _The Subsect. By Jess Mariano_. Dumbfounded, Luke stared at it for several long minutes before he finally turned it over and saw Jess's picture and read the author's biography printed underneath.

He'd done it. Dear God, Jess had really done it. Luke recalled Liz's words from their trip to meet Doula and acknowledged that maybe they weren't so crazy after all. Jess _had_ found a nice girl. He'd written his book. Maybe they _did_ have a cat. When it came right down to it, what did he know about anything after all?

Before he could consider any other fantastical finds, the front door opened and slammed shut. The book dropped out of his hands.

"Luke? Babe, I'm home!"

Shit. Lorelai. The other… _Her._

"Sorry I'm late!" she called out.

Luke took a deep breath, screwed up his courage, and went to the entrance of the living room. Lorelai was there, jumping on one foot while she attempted to take a high heel off the other. She looked just the same and yet so different. Her hair was looser, but at the same time, curlier. The clothes she had on were quirkier; more form-fitting; sexier. She was Lorelai seen in high-definition.

"Sorry," she said again, spotting him. She switched to removing the other shoe. "I was ready to leave but then Sookie demanded that I try a spoonful of a newly created soup before I left, and then of course she had to tell me the recipe – as if that mattered at all to me – and then she had to explain how she'd sourced the ingredients, and that Jackson was going to…" She faded off, watching him in growing concern. "Babe? Everything OK?"

"I'm not –" His voice sounded rusty, so he stopped, cleared his throat, and tried again. "I'm not your Luke."

Her shoes clattered to the floor. "What…what does that mean?" She looked devastated, as if prepared to hear the worst.

He tried a different way to explain it. "I'm not the Luke who belongs here."

"So…this is it?" Her expression turned to one of numb resignation. "You're leaving?"

"No, no, of course not!" Alarmed by her assumption, he took a few steps further into the room. "I'm trying to say that I'm not who you think I am."

"I don't understand," she said nervously.

"About a year ago, you woke up in Hartford one day. You drove here, to Stars Hollow, to find me." He took another step towards her and pointed to himself. "I'm that Luke."

As he stepped closer, she stepped backwards. "No," she said, her eyes wide with fright. "No, _that_ was a dream!" she insisted. "That did _not_ happen!"

"It did," he said simply. "Look, I don't know how any of this works, or why. All I know is that I went to sleep a little bit ago, in my bed, in my apartment, and I woke up here, on your couch."

She blinked rapidly, trying to assimilate what was going on. "If you're not…" She fluttered her hands at him. "Then where's…?"

"I don't know. I'm sure he's fine, though. If it helps, Lorelai says that on the day you visited our world, the hours just sort of disappeared for her. She woke up and realized she was missing a day, but she was fine. Just…sort of confused."

"Well, that's my usual state, so…" She smiled faintly and worried her hands together. "Um, hi, I guess. Again."

"Hi." He nodded, glad that she seemed to be able to accept the peculiar turn of events. "Listen, since I don't have any idea how long this visit might last, I want to say something now, while I've got the chance. At first, when you popped into my world, I was aggravated that you turned up. You upset everything I thought I knew."

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. Her tentative smile turned into a grin. "But what was I supposed to do, huh? Go find the local time tunnel conveniently located outside Hartford and slide back into my own world? Oh, hey – _Sliders_! Do you remember that show?"

"Yeah, I do," he admitted, finding himself smiling back. "Anyway," he said sternly, trying to keep on task, "I want you to know that I'm…well, I'm grateful now, that you found me. I'm glad that I became aware of this other life, and I'm really thankful that I connected with my Lorelai."

" _Your_ Lorelai, huh?" She gave him a sly wink.

"I don't mean...It was just that I couldn't get past what had happened, so I went to find her – of course thinking she'd be you. Instead she didn't have any idea who _I_ was."

"Yeah. We've both been in that situation, haven't we?" she commented sympathetically.

"We have. And now…I can't imagine my life without her in it. I can't imagine not knowing her. So thank you, for reaching out to me when you found yourself stranded in that other life."

"You're welcome, although of course you realize my purpose wasn't at all selfless or noble. I was just scared all the way down to my soul and frantically looking for the guy I loved. I was desperately searching for _anything_ that might anchor me in place again. I'm glad it turned out to have a happy ending for both of us."

Luke made a sweeping motion around the room. "I hope you don't mind, I looked around a little bit. I was curious to see how things compared."

"I get that. I did plenty of looking around that day, too."

"Yeah, I found that out too late," he grumbled, a little crankily.

"What?"

"Never mind." He carefully stepped around her to the fireplace mantle, and pointed to the center picture. "This is Rory, right?"

Lorelai turned to look at the picture too. "Yep, that's my girl."

"She's beautiful, Lorelai. She looks just like you."

She beamed at the compliment. "It's mainly the eyes, I think. We definitely have the same eyes and the same coloring, and that's enough to make people think we're more identical than we are."

Luke nodded, and studied the young woman in the picture again. "Is it OK if I ask who her father is?"

"Chris," she answered directly, although she did look at him quizzically.

"I figured," he said quietly, "but I guess I sort of hoped that maybe it was…uh, someone else." He chickened out of saying what he'd really hoped.

She looked at him kindly. "No, I didn't land in Stars Hollow until Rory was already a year old. And I didn't really get to know you until many years after that." She looked at the picture again and then looked frankly into his face. "I've thought about that, though. I've wondered what it would have been like, to have you – well, not _you_ , but Luke, _my_ Luke – as her father. But then she wouldn't be the same Rory, so it all gets super confusing. Sort of like trying to differentiate the Lukes in alternate universes."

"I hear that," he said lightly. He pointed at the mantle again. "You knew Mia?"

"I loved Mia. _Love_ Mia," she immediately corrected. "She's still alive and kicking in this world."

"She is?" Luke was stunned and delighted.

"Oh yeah. She's living close to her boys and thinking about getting married again."

"That's…that's wonderful." Luke shook his head, overcome at the thought. "How did you meet her?"

"I knocked on her door with a one-year-old baby in my arms, desperate for work. She took me in and treated me like her daughter. She helped to raise Rory, and taught me everything I know about being an innkeeper. Mia is proof that guardian angels do exist."

"That sounds exactly like something she'd do. I sure wish Lorelai could have met her, especially since she's been renovating the Dragonfly this past year. She's got it just about ready to open."

"Wow, that's a big change for her, isn't it? What happened to the fancy marketing job?" Lorelai pointed at the couch and chairs. "What do you say we sit down? I have a feeling this conversation isn't going to be over soon. We might as well get comfortable."

Luke nodded his thanks and sat down on the easy chair. "She quit. She decided she wanted to run an inn instead."

"Well, I highly recommend it," she said encouragingly as she settled on the couch. "So the two of you are a couple now?"

" _What!_ No, not at all. We've just become really good friends," Luke explained earnestly.

"Dude! What are you waiting for? Whip out that horoscope and get on with it already!"

"The horoscope?" Luke frowned. "The one I gave her on her birthday?"

" _You_ gave her one?" Lorelai looked baffled. "No, see, here, in our world, I gave one to Luke the first day I walked into the diner. He kept it in his wallet for eight years and showed it to me on our first date. That sealed the deal, as far as I was concerned."

"He sounds more romantic than I am," Luke commented, with a small smile.

"I highly doubt that. But seriously, what's the hold up? You love her, right?"

"Of course I do, but –" He stopped talking, astonished at the words that had just popped out of his mouth.

Lorelai chuckled. "Oh man, if you could see your face right now. What's wrong? Don't tell me that this is the first time that thought's occurred to you!"

He stared down at his hands. "Um, yeah?"

"Come on!"

"I mean…I knew…that she's, uh…" He stopped and tried to collect his thoughts.

"Just as articulate as the Luke I'm used to," she observed, teasing him.

He tried again, this time finding appropriate words. "I knew she was someone special. I knew I really enjoyed being with her. I knew I valued her friendship, and I knew that I, uh…" He trailed off again, embarrassed to say more.

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Thought about getting her alone in the dark?"

"Yeah," he admitted, deciding that there was no use in trying to hide anything from her. She already knew it all.

"Then what's stopping you? Luke and I danced around each other for eight long years before we finally connected. You surely don't want to wait eight more years before getting the girl of your dreams, do you?"

Eight years sounded like a death sentence. "No," he said unequivocally.

"So again I ask, what's holding you back?"

He leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees. "At first, it was the weird way we met. I got it in my head that maybe we weren't supposed to know each other at all. It was just chance that we became acquainted. Maybe we were meant to stay apart."

"Or maybe it was fate making sure you _did_ get together."

Luke nodded. "Eventually, I began to see it more like that, but then Lorelai…I'm not sure what happened. Before, she was the one pushing me to give us a try. But then something changed and she backed off. Cooled off. Now I still think she feels something more than friendship for me, but she's…wary. It's almost like she's hiding."

Lorelai sighed in understanding. "She's scared."

"Scared? _Lorelai?"_ Luke scoffed. "She's fearless!" he insisted, ignoring the out-of-character panic attack he'd recently witnessed.

"Not when it comes to relationships," she refuted. "And right now she's terrified. She's scared that she's in over her head. She's afraid that what she feels for you is way more than what you feel for her. She's frightened that as soon as she really opens up and lets you in, you'll change your mind and she'll get her heart broken."

"I wouldn't do that," he said, some heat coloring his words.

"Does she know that though? Have you told her _anything_ about how you feel about her?"

"But she's got to know!" he disputed. "I mean, look at how I –"

"Take care of her? Feed her? Fix stuff at her house?"

"Yes, all of that," he said, but no longer quite so certain.

"Luke, listen." Lorelai sighed and rested her head against the back of the couch. "Sometimes, actions don't speak. Sometimes the only thing that women can hear are real, actual words. Tell her, OK? Don't make her guess and doubt herself. Be honest and tell her exactly how you feel." She raised her head enough to look at him. "Tell her what you want. What you hope. What you feel. Tell her everything."

"You make some sense," he admitted.

"Of course I do. I've already been all through this."

"The voice of experience. I guess I'd better take heed then."

There was an edge to her smile. "I wish there was a way for you to tell my Luke that. He still blithely ignores my excellent advice on a daily basis."

"Yeah, well, no matter what, the chili served over spaghetti, with a mountain of shredded cheese on top, is not happening. I don't care how much of an institution it is in Cincinnati."

Lorelai laughed. "I don't know what that is. I'll need to go look it up."

"Or give your guy a break. Don't."

"But it sounds delicious," she argued. A second later the teasing look on her face changed to one of worry. "Oh no, I forgot…there's a Rachel. She's still around in your world. Is that why you're holding back about Lorelai?" She tried to look at his hands. "Are you still married to her?"

He held up his bare hand. "Nope, divorced."

"Phew. That's a relief." She collapsed against the couch.

"Yes, breaking marriage vows is always something to be desired," he said sharply.

She sat up, startled by his tone. "Sorry, but you have no idea how much her presence devastated me that day. Luke and I had just gotten engaged, and to see his old girlfriend running the diner, and that ring on her finger…it just about killed me."

"So you _do_ know Rachel? Here, I mean?"

"Yeah, although I was oblivious to most of her history. It wasn't until she visited like four, five years ago that I met her and became aware of your feelings for her."

Luke sat straight up, too, alarmed by the coincidence of the timing. "What happened here when she visited?"

"Well, she was great. I really liked her. You were –" Lorelai stopped and glared at him, slightly playfully. "Not _you_ , of course, the other…OK, this is exhausting. _How_ do you keep it clear who you're talking about?"

"It is confusing," he agreed dryly. "We struggle with it all the time. Lorelai just calls you _'her.'_ " He put a nice layer of sneering disdain on the word.

"Whoa! She _hates_ me?" Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. "Why?"

"I don't think she actually hates you." Luke walked it back. "I think it's more that she's jealous of you."

"Jealous? Of me? Are you kidding?" She waved her hands at herself. "Why? Aren't we both pretty much the same?"

He shook his head, studying her. "I know it sounds insane, but no. I could tell who was who, even if you were side by side. You're…freer, somehow. More devil-may-care. I think Lorelai lives with just a few more rules over her head."

"Probably because she lived in Emily and Richard's world for so much longer than I did," she speculated. She looked frankly at Luke. "And you're not as angry as the Luke I'm used to."

"Oh, I get angry," he assured her.

"Really? Because I'm not getting that 'ready to blow up at any second' vibe from you. And by the way, using the word 'vibe' would be enough to trigger a rant from him."

"It's not my favorite word, either."

Lorelai continued to observe him for a bit longer before she shrugged. "You still seem ultra-calm, especially in light of where you are right now, but OK, let's get back on topic, at least somewhat. Why is _she_ jealous of me?" She seemed to enjoy putting the same sort of sneer on the pronoun.

"Well, I think – at least at first – it was because she thought I liked you more than I liked her."

"Is that true?" she wanted to know, raising her eyebrows.

Reluctantly, Luke nodded. "You and I had that instant connection that day," he quietly reminded her. "It was hard to forget that."

"We did," Lorelai said levelly. "But I suspect most of that was due to my desperation. And you are universally a gentleman and anxious to help anyone in distress. The point I'm trying to make, our connection that day was probably more because of the circumstances, and not because of any real romantic vibe."

Luke glared at her. "Now you're just deliberately using that word."

She pointed at him, looking happy. " _There's_ the look I'm used to!"

"In any case, that day messed with my head and my emotions. It did take me a long time to see past it, to make any kind of peace with it. It bugged Lorelai. Maybe still bugs her, for all I know. She hates anytime I bring it up. It's always a sore point between us. She also hates that you've got your life altogether and she's still struggling to figure hers out."

At first her eyes stretched wide in amazement, and then she leaned forward, hooting with laughter. " _Me?_ She thinks _I've_ got it figured out? Oh my God, she's delusional!"

"Well, she thinks you do. This house, living in Stars Hollow, running the Dragonfly. She says it's all so much better than what she was doing. It annoys her, that you already knew what was best for her."

"I know _nothing_ ," she said emphatically. "I stumbled into all of this. Yes, it all works for me, but it was years and years of just doing what I had to that led to this. There was no grand master plan. I just did what was needed to keep us going."

Luke held his breath as an epiphany hit him. "Because of Rory."

"Of course, because of Rory. Everything I've done for the past twenty-one years has been because of her."

"Stars Hollow. Mia. The Inn. Rory was always the motivation," he murmured to himself. It was all so obvious now.

"Besides, it looked to me like she was doing far beyond just OK. A big fancy executive job, lots of money, a real high-end lifestyle. I don't see why she'd be jealous of what I've managed to piece together."

"But she says this is all better. Taking on the stuff of your life has made her happier."

"I suspect _you've_ made her happier."

Luke shrugged.

"And I guess…" Lorelai looked pensive. "I might be a teeny bit jealous of her, too. She figured out a way to live in harmony with my parents. That's something I still haven't mastered."

Luke debated about voicing his other suspicion, and finally decided he should. "I think another regret is that there's no Rory in her life. I think there's an emptiness that she's just recently discovered."

Lorelai sucked in a sharp breath and put a hand over her heart. " _That_ I don't envy at all. I can't even stand to remember what that was like, to be living someplace without Rory."

Luke nodded. "She's beginning to sense that, I think."

Lorelai looked sympathetic, but then he could see her making the decision to shake off the melancholy. "Of course, she _did_ marry Christopher. At least that's one mistake I haven't made. _Yet,"_ she added on, grinning hugely at her preposterous threat.

He smiled thinly. "It didn't last long."

"She wised up fast, huh? Unlike you and Nicole."

"Who?" Luke caught the bitterness in her voice.

"Nicole."

"Who's Nicole?"

Lorelai scoffed. "Your wife. Ex-wife."

"You mean Rachel."

"No, I mean Nicole."

"I'm sorry, I don't…" The name suddenly jogged his memory. "You're not talking about Taylor's lawyer, are you?"

Lorelai looked at him sharply. "In your world, you and Nicole weren't a thing?"

"Geez, no! I barely know her. Although Lorelai _did_ say she had a crush on me, the day she chased her off."

That made Lorelai beam. "She chased the stick insect off? Good for her!" She nodded sagely. "I should have done the same thing. Would have saved us both a lot of angst."

"So here, Luke married this…this Nicole, but _not_ Rachel?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said, with a deep sigh.

"But you said that Rachel _did_ come back to town, just the way she did in my world. Why didn't he marry her?"

She looked conflicted. "Because of me. But I didn't know that until we started dating, years later."

"Why? What happened?"

She looked down as she interlaced her fingers. "Rachel left because of me. She could tell that you – um, that is, Luke – had feelings for me. She got out of the way."

His mouth dropped open. "You're kidding."

"No. I felt terrible, at the time, because I thought she was what he wanted. Rachel and I hit it off, and I even tried to convince Luke that she was in it for the long haul, this time. I couldn't believe it when he told me she'd left. Like I say, it was years later when he admitted the truth."

Luke still felt gobsmacked. "When I talked to Lorelai the first time, I told her that I wished something – or someone – would have stopped me from marrying Rachel. And here you're telling me that's exactly what happened. I can't believe it."

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Then I don't get it," he said, after doing some mental calculations. "Why the big delay in getting together? Why the crazy marriage to the lawyer lady?"

"Oh, Luke," she sighed, looking off into the distance. "Rory. The Dragonfly. The significance of the friendship to me. And truthfully…just me being an idiot for a lot of years."

"Sounds like he was, too." He snorted in disgust. _"Nicole."_

She smiled at that. "Yeah, we've both had our moments of stupidity through the years."

After a moment of reflection, he pointed over at the pictures on the mantle. "I take it you worked at the Independence? With Mia?"

"Yeah, for a long, long time. First as a maid, and eventually I became the manager, after Mia retired."

"How'd you get to the Dragonfly, then?"

Lorelai smiled, as if she knew a secret. "Rachel."

" _What?!"_

"Rachel came across the Dragonfly when she was out taking pictures one day. She showed them to me, and I was entranced. Sookie and I had been dreaming about starting up our own place for years. We went out to look at it, and everything just clicked. It still took a couple more years before we were able to buy it though, and start the renovation." She looked at him in fascination. "You say your Lorelai's been working on the Dragonfly there, too?"

"Yeah, it should be ready to open in a couple of weeks. She's…" Luke stopped briefly, remembering how he'd left Lorelai. "She's been a little stressed out about it."

Lorelai giggled. "I had a full-blown meltdown. Ended up crying hysterically in Luke's arms. Tell her it'll be OK. Tell her it will all be worth it in the end."

"I hope she thinks so. The place is already beautiful. She's put her heart and soul into it, I can swear to that. So has Sookie."

"I'm sure she has," Lorelai said softly. "So she teamed up with Sookie after all, huh? That makes me so happy."

"She and Sookie absolutely bonded the first time they met. It's been full speed ahead ever since."

"Michel too, right?"

Luke frowned. "I don't know who that is."

"Michel Gerard. He works at the Independence. Sookie will know."

"You don't mean that insufferable French guy, do you?"

"That would be the one."

"Why would anyone want to partner with him? Next to Taylor, he's the most irritating man on earth," Luke argued.

"He's part of the team. Trust me, he needs to be there. Sometimes I wonder why too, but if I have to suffer with him in this world, then she should in yours, too." In spite of her harsh words, he could tell there was genuine affection behind her insistence.

"OK, I'll do what I can, if you think it's important."

"Yeah, I think it is. We don't want to mess up what's proven to work, do we?" She tucked her bare feet up under her and smiled a little tiredly.

"Speaking of what works, what doesn't…is there anything I should know?"

"Like what?"

He leaned forward again, clasping his hands between his knees. "When you first got home tonight – when you still thought I was the other Luke – I couldn't help but be a little concerned by your response. Are things not OK between the two of you?"

She didn't answer right away, and when she did, she chose her words carefully. "There _is_ an issue right now. We're doing our best to adapt."

"And this…issue. Would it help if I knew about it, before I head back to my own world?"

He caught the flash of pain and anguish on her face. "Luke, I don't know what the rules are here. Maybe sharing secrets between the universes just isn't allowed. Maybe we're all supposed to figure it out on our own."

"Believe me, I get that. I've even made that argument myself. But all the same, maybe you could at least give me a hint? Maybe then I'd be prepared a little bit, knowing that something's headed our way."

She mulled that over before abruptly pulling herself upright again. "OK, fine. Here's my advice. When April shows up, tell your Lorelai the truth. _Immediately._ Think you can do that?" she challenged him, with obvious anger.

He hated to shake his head again. "Sorry, but I don't know who that is, either."

"No, of course you wouldn't," she muttered. "Anna, then. Does that ring a bell?"

He ran the name through his memory. "Um, no. Afraid not."

"Really? Anna? Anna Nardini? A floozy you once dated from Woodbridge?"

He shook his head, with authority this time. "I never dated anyone from Woodbridge, let alone someone named Anna."

Lorelai caught her breath, and he was stunned to see tears in her eyes. "You – you should be fine, then. Don't sweat it."

He was suddenly angry at this other version of him. "Did he _cheat_ on you?" he demanded.

"No, no – it's nothing like that." She sounded exhausted. "We'll be OK. You guys will be, too."

"I hope so," he murmured, still vexed by the obvious ache she was carrying.

"Look, it's still good advice. Don't keep anything from her, Luke. Tell her the truth, about everything. Do that and you two should be set for life." She looked over at him, quizzically. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because Lorelai said almost the same thing to me, not that long ago. She said if I knew there was something she should know, I should tell her immediately."

"Smart gal. Do that. Listen to her."

"Is that working for you two? Telling each other everything?"

Lorelai looked startled. "We…we're trying." She blinked at him a couple of times, obviously deep in thought. "When I got back from your world, we made some changes." She sighed. "But it's easy to slip back into old habits, you know? I guess I need to take my own advice."

"You're sure you're OK?"

She curled back up on the couch and looked at him a little sadly. "I'm going to try my damnedest to make sure we will be. Thanks for reminding me I already know the secret."

Luke noticed how washed out she suddenly appeared. "Have you had anything to eat? Except for that spoonful of Sookie's experimental soup?"

"Not since an afternoon scone pinched during high tea."

He stood up. "Then let's get you some dinner." He put a hand out towards her. "Let's go see what's in the kitchen."

She opened her eyes and looked at him in bemusement. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You cook too." She made no move to get up or to take his hand.

"I do," he confirmed.

She continued to sit still, staring at his hand. "Letting you cook for me…for some reason, that does feel like cheating, almost."

He put his hands on his hips, considering. He could see her point. He wouldn't want any other Luke cooking for his Lorelai, either. "OK, tell you what. I bet there are leftovers. How about if I just warm something up for us instead?"

Lorelai grinned, then stood up. "That sounds acceptable, in a perfectly platonic way. I think there are about a dozen Chinese take-out containers in the fridge."

Luke grimaced. "Please tell me they're not from Al's?"

"No, some stuff I carted home from a trip to Hartford earlier in the week."

"Then I believe we have a deal." He held out his hand, and this time she shook it without any hesitation.

No hesitation, and with no rush of any sort of electric connection between them, either.

Luke breathed a happy sigh of relief. "While we eat, why don't you tell me more about Rory?"

"Are you sure? She's my favorite topic. I warn you, I could talk about her _allllll_ night."

"Talk all you want. I want to know everything about her."

"That proves it. You are _definitely_ not my Luke." She looked at him, mischief in her eyes. "He knows better than to give me permission to talk all night!"

* * *

Luke sat straight up in his bed, his heart pounding.

A second later, his alarm went off, the unexpected noise sending another round of terror through him. He leaned over and swatted at the clock until he connected with the switch, silencing the alarm.

He ran a hand over his sweaty forehead and pushed back the hair that was clinging there. He tried to take a deep breath, to find something to calm his jittery nerves.

He remembered everything. _Everything._ Everything she'd said. Everything he'd admitted.

"Whoa," he whispered in a daze. He continued to stare straight ahead as the early morning light began to filter into his apartment.

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** If you didn't love this one, please don't tell me! You'll break my heart. A lot of love went into this one, trying to get the universes to align. Now we'll see if Luke takes the other Lorelai's advice in the next chapter. (Spoiler: I bet he does!)


	14. The Right Lorelai

" _Tell her what you want. What you hope. What you feel. Tell her everything."_

With those words of advice fresh in his head, Luke hurried down the stairs. Amazingly, he felt great. Well-rested and revitalized. Hard to believe he'd spent the whole night listening to the other Lorelai talk.

Shaking his head at the craziness he now accepted as fact, he stopped at the divider curtain to roll up his sleeves. He was ready to get to work. No more excuses. No more shirking from the truth. No more keeping Lorelai in limbo as he flailed about between the universes. What was the old tagline from Quantum Leap? _Putting right what once went wrong._ He nodded his head. That was his challenge for the day. By tomorrow morning, everything was going to be put right.

The diner routine wasn't some veiled mystery today. He dove into the prep work. Caesar arrived and they divided the chores up the way they normally did. By the time the door was unlocked at 6:00, everything was ready to go.

Although focused on breakfast orders, Luke kept a constant vigil for Lorelai. He couldn't wait to see her. It felt like he'd been away from her for days and now he was _so_ damn hungry to see her. He was starving for even a glimpse of her.

He was coming out of the kitchen, balancing a couple of orders on his arms, when he heard Caesar laughing on the phone. "No problem, Lorelai, see you soon!"

Immediately, Luke diverted to the other end of the counter. "That was Lorelai?"

"Yeah, she wants one of those sausage and bacon sandwiches you've been making for her."

"Why didn't you come get me?" Luke complained, frustrated.

Caesar gave him a funny look as he hung up the phone. "Get you…to write down a carry-out order?"

Hearing how that sounded, Luke tried to dial it back. "Yeah, you know – in case she wanted something special on it, or different, or…something. Like extra-crispy bacon, maybe."

Still regarding him oddly, Caesar waved the order slip at him. "I think I've got it, Luke." He glanced at the piece of paper, reciting from it. "Sausage patty, bacon, slice of cheese, fried egg. Did I miss something?"

"Wheat toast. I put it on wheat toast," Luke grumbled.

Caesar made a show of adding that note to the slip. "You gonna deliver those?" he asked, inclining his head towards the plates Luke was handling.

"No, I thought I'd just eat them myself," Luke snapped, rolling his eyes briefly before taking them to the proper table.

* * *

The morning turned out to be a demanding one. It was so hectic, in fact, that even though he doubled his efforts to watch for her, she made it inside, paid for her order, and was almost to the door before he became aware of her presence.

He dumped the plates he was carrying on the nearest table and ran after her. "Lorelai, wait!"

She turned around with a smile. "Hey there, hard-working diner guy! I didn't want to bother you."

"Never that busy," he told her. "And you're never a bother."

Her eyes lit up and her mouth opened eagerly.

"That was not meant as a challenge," he clarified quickly, feeling as though he could see her thoughts.

She grinned. "Probably just as well. I've got to get going this morning. Tom's waiting for me at the Dragonfly to approve a change order."

"Do you have just a minute?" He put a hand on her wrist, subconsciously hoping to keep her tethered. "I was wondering if maybe I could take you out someplace for dinner tonight. It might be nice, to get away from everything, eat some good food, relax a little bit, especially after the frantic days you've had."

"Aww, Luke, I wish I could!" She did look regretful. "Unfortunately, my little meltdown episode from yesterday shot to the top of the town gossip circuit."

Instantly angry, he felt himself pulling up to his full height. "And people think there's something wrong with you staying here, letting me help you? Who's saying that? I'd like to see them say it to my face!"

"No, no, not like that!" She patted his chest in an attempt to calm him down. "No one cares that I shared your bed yesterday," she said, giving him a saucy wink. "They care that I'm overwhelmed, which is very, very, _very_ sweet. Babette and Patty spread the word, and I think half of the town is coming over to the Dragonfly today to help out. That's why I need to be there this evening, to make sure all of our volunteer helpers know what to do."

"Oh." He had some trouble shifting emotional gears so swiftly. "That's different, then. And yeah – that's pretty nice of everyone."

"It's amazing, is what it is." Her smile became so dazzling that it actually shut down his thought process for a moment. "I swear, Luke, this town…" She shook her head. "If anyone told me about this town, I'd think they were making it up."

"It is unbelievable sometimes, I'll go along with that," he said with deliberate dryness, which was a calculated attempt to help keep his focus away from how gorgeous she was.

This time, she was the one to catch his wrist with her fingers. "Could I have a raincheck for the dinner? Because I really would like that." Her grip tightened on him. "I really would."

"Of course. Anytime." He struggled to take a full breath. "And…me too."

"Great." She dropped his arm and looked behind her, at the door. "I should probably get a move on. You know Tom."

"Yeah." He followed her the three steps it took to get to the door. "I'll plan on being at the Dragonfly sometime tonight, too."

"Oh, Luke, seriously, you don't have to do that! You've already done so much to help me! You should take care of your own business for once."

He ducked his head closer to hers. "I'd rather take care of you," he admitted, in a voice gruff with honesty.

She stepped back, the better to look in his eyes. "You do. You take care of me all the time," she stated, her voice steady.

He refused to look away. "That's turned out to be a pretty good job. And you know – somebody's got to do it." He said it in a way that could have been banter. Or it could have been something else.

Apparently he'd stepped over an invisible line. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she said sharply.

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't mean I don't like being there to watch you…take care of yourself," he finished up feebly, as Lorelai backed up closer to the door, giving him a wary look. "OK," he sighed. "I'm not sure where I was going with that sentence, but it sounded a lot better in my head."

She grinned. "Words got away from you, did they? That's why they're best left to the professionals."

"I'll remember that, next time."

She fiddled with the doorknob. "Luke, you know you're always welcome at the Dragonfly, anytime. If you want to come over and join the party tonight, please do. But I don't want you to feel like you have to. You work hard, too. You deserve a night off."

He knew better than to push it, this time. "If I can get this place shut down early enough, I'll be over. If not, I'll swing by another time." He was straight-up lying to her. No way in hell he wouldn't be there tonight.

"OK." She smiled at him, opening the door. "Have a good day, Luke."

"You too."

He watched for a minute as she darted across the street and climbed up into the Jeep, fighting down the completely irrational feelings of loss and longing rushing through him.

When he finally turned around, all eyes were on him, and the plates he'd abandoned on the empty table had been claimed by the appropriate diners, who were also scrutinizing him as they munched away.

"Show's over," he grumbled, returning to the counter.

"Not so sure about that, boss," Caesar remarked, straightening up from where he'd been leaning against the kitchen doorframe, also watching. "Might be it's just beginning."

* * *

"Ho-ly cow," Luke muttered, trying to navigate through the cars and trucks parked all over the Dragonfly's entrance and yard early that evening. "Guess she wasn't kidding about half the town showing up."

He kept going until he was able to turn into the little drive heading over to the barn. The horses weren't supposed to arrive until the next week, so he didn't think anyone would mind if he pulled his truck inside the open doors. That way he'd stay out of everyone else's way. He retrieved his tool box from the bed of the truck and made his way to the backdoor of the inn.

" _Luke!_ Hi!" Sookie greeted him, as soon as he stepped into the kitchen. "Welcome to chaos, otherwise known as the Dragonfly Inn!"

"It looks great, though." He pointed at the newly installed appliances and the shiny pots and pans stacked on the shelves. "I can't believe how much is done."

"I know! Pretty awesome, right? There's a chance it'll be ready for me to cook in here by opening night after all!"

"No doubt about it," he agreed. "Hey, do you know where Lorelai's at?"

Sookie chuckled. "Luke, I barely know where _I'm_ at!"

He smiled in sympathy. "Yeah, I remember that feeling. You'll get through it, though."

Before Sookie could answer, a flock of Girl Scouts flooded through the door.

"Hey! Troop 434! Ready to lend a hand?"

"Yes!" the girls cheered.

"OK, here's the deal. You're going to _very carefully_ unwrap the dishes in this carton, and then _very carefully_ put them in the dishwasher. Then I'm going to start up the dishwasher and give them a sanitizing rinse. While they're getting clean, I'll have another task for you. Ready?"

"Ready!" they chanted.

"Then ready…set…go!"

The girls shrieked and attacked the huge carton of dishes.

Luke made his escape to the door leading into the dining room. He turned to wave to Sookie just as something plowed into him.

"Sorry," Lorelai gasped. "Didn't see you."

He held her arms, making sure she was steady on her feet. "Are you OK?"

"Me? Oh, sure. Just…" She motioned at the activity going on around them. "Lots of confusion, you know?" She bit her lips to try and tame a goofy smile that suddenly bloomed on her face. She made a fist and lightly bumped it against his arm. "So…you came."

He shrugged. "I told you I was going to."

"Yeah, I know, but…" She rapped her knuckles against his arm again and giggled. "Here you are."

He looked at her sharply. "Are you drunk?"

"No, of course not!" Her expression soured momentarily, but soon a grin reappeared. "Unless you count just being drunk on life!"

"Um, OK," he said skeptically. He didn't really think she'd chance drinking on a day like this, but she sure seemed to be under the influence of _something._

"I came prepared." He rattled the toolbox in his hand. "Put me to work."

"That I can do." She nodded and began to lead him back through the kitchen, back through the Girl Scouts, back to the small porch outside the kitchen door. "You're cool with electricity, right?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm _cool_ with it," he disputed, for some reason taking offense at her choice of words. "But I have a healthy respect for it, and I know what all of the different colored wires mean."

"Cool, cool," she responded brightly, seemingly not able to stop herself. "So here's the deal." She pointed at two gargantuan light sconces on either side of the kitchen door. "Obviously these should not be here."

"Yeah," Luke said, taking in the scale of them.

"They go outside the front doors."

"That makes much more sense," he said with a nod.

"Luckily, we caught the mistake before the ones meant for this entrance could get put up out front. Anyway, could you change them out, get the right ones up in both spots?"

"Sure, I can do that." He glanced into the kitchen. "The only problem might be that I'll have to cut the juice back here for a bit, while I'm getting them sorted out. I'm not positive how the circuit breakers are set up."

Lorelai nodded. "Just let Sookie know before you do it."

"Will do."

She stared at him for a while, seemingly lost in thought. "So, um, OK…I guess I should –" She moved away abruptly, unfortunately backing away in the wrong direction.

" _Lorelai!"_ He snatched her arms, hauling her back before she could fall down the porch steps. "Are you _sure_ you're OK?" he asked, peering into her face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she insisted, brushing off her near-death experience. "There's just a lot of people here today, and a lot of different tasks going on." She removed his hands from her arms, but then slid her hands to his forearms, watching studiously as she did so. "It's…different. It _feels_ different. Or maybe…it's the feelings that are different," she said quietly. "I can't seem to keep track of everything that's going on around here today." Suddenly, she lost her retrospective musing and smiled up at him as she released him. "Which means, I should probably go check on all that's happening. Be the boss of everyone, right?"

"You are the boss," he agreed, doing his best to ignore the potent yearnings that even her lightest of touches managed to arouse in him.

"I am," she said jauntily, sounding more like herself. She pointed to a spot on her chest. "I need a big button to wear, so people know who's numero uno around here."

"Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about that," he said sardonically, putting his toolbox down.

She began to back away again, but this time she navigated correctly towards the kitchen. "Come find me if I can do anything for you, OK?" Inexplicably, her cheeks reddened as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She turned and hustled away from him as fast as she could.

 _Weird vibe around here_ , Luke thought, as he began to check the electrical connections on the first light fixture. He was so on edge that he didn't even catch that he'd voluntarily used one of his most-hated words.

* * *

Luke worked methodically on the job he'd been assigned. Not only did that keep him focused on the task at hand, but it also helped to insure that he wasn't going to accidentally electrocute himself while day-dreaming about the sexy boss lady who was somewhere close by.

Although he'd traveled the length of the inn a couple of times, he hadn't seen Lorelai again. He'd been through the kitchen numerous times, down to the basement three times to flip the circuit breakers, and out to the front porch to retrieve the correct light fixtures for the back door. During each journey he'd encountered a mix of paid workmen and jolly townspeople. The jolliness seemed to be catching, as even Tom and his crew were smiling and chatty. There was definitely a party atmosphere saturating the building, probably due to the platters of snacks and cold tubs of drinks Sookie kept filled at the at the registration desk.

He observed a fire brigade of volunteers placing the items Lorelai had stockpiled in her extra room. ( _Rory's room_ , he silently reminded himself.) Each item had a colored sticker on it, telling the helpers where it went.

He wasn't surprised to encounter Miss Patty, or Babette and Morey, or even Andrew from the bookstore as he moved through the rooms. However, the sight of Taylor Doose walking around with a clipboard and a ruler, looking self-important, did throw him a little bit.

Eventually the correct light fixtures were installed outside the back entrance, and he moved his tools to the front porch to put up the bigger sconces. They needed to go higher on the wall than what he could comfortably reach, so he borrowed a stepladder from the workmen. The setting sun shone directly into his workspace, and the added solar warmth, plus his exertion, quickly made him sweat. He ditched his flannel shirt, and the hat too, since it seemed like it caught against the siding every time he turned his head.

As he began work on the second sconce, he became aware that the volunteers were beginning to leave. Most of them stopped beside him, to say goodbye or to comment on how fantastic the inn looked. When he paused and looked down the lane, he could tell by the lack of vehicles that most of the hired contractors had called it a day as well.

It grew quieter and quieter. Soon, as the sun sank further, he could hear the frogs croaking from the pond and the birds beginning their sleepy nighttime songs.

Just as he was tightening the last screw on the fixture, the door opened and Lorelai stepped outside.

"Oh, hi! I wondered if you were still here!"

"Almost finished."

She took a few steps back to admire his work. "Wow, what a difference! Those look so much better than the other ones." She tilted her head. "And they don't look like knackwurst, do they?"

"What?" he asked, startled. He looked closer at the light he'd just installed. "What are you talking about?"

Lorelai giggled a little bit. "We picked out one set, early on, that we decided had a rather unfortunate likeness to large sausages after we had more time to look at them."

Luke leaned back on the stepstool to change his vantage point. "No sausages here."

She giggled again, but this time with more intent, and he realized he'd given her a perfect set-up for one of her 'dirty' comments.

"Don't," he warned her.

Her laugh became full and honest. "Darn. You've gotten too good at this. I can't trip you up anymore."

He tugged at the fixture, making sure it was secure. "I think that's got it. Why don't you go inside and flip the switch? Let's make sure it works."

She was gone longer than what he thought she'd be, but finally both lights blazed to life. Satisfied, he got down off the stool and took a moment to appreciate the way they enhanced the entrance.

"Let there be light!" Lorelai barreled out of the door and took her place beside him, also regarding the finished effect. "That's more like it!"

As he wiped his hands on his jeans, Luke once again became aware of how still the atmosphere was. "Things winding down? Ready to close the place up for the night?"

"Yeah, I think everyone's cleared out. Sookie and Jackson just left out the back." She turned and looked at the drive, frowning. "Where's your truck?"

"I stole a spot from the horses."

"I doubt that they'll care," she said, grinning. "The barn looks good though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, really good. Your money-eating horses will be living in the style to which they'll rapidly become accustomed." He picked up his electric meter, wrapped the sensor around it, and tucked it away with the other tools. "Quite the turnout you had today."

"I know, right? And everyone was so sweet about it. I can't believe how much got accomplished in just one day. I feel _so_ much better." She smiled at him, looking a little embarrassed. "I don't think you'll have to deal with another panic attack any time soon."

"Not a problem. It'd be fine if I did," he disputed.

She looked at him doubtfully. "You _want_ me to have another panic attack?"

"No, no, of course not!" He finally tuned into what she'd actually said. "But I'm happy to, uh…be there for you, no matter what the problem is. In times of panic and not."

"OK," she said, chuckling a little bit and letting him off the hook. She went over to the porch steps and leaned against the post, looking out over the darkening lawn. "Oh, it feels nice out here. It was a little stuffy upstairs in the rooms. I guess I should have turned on the A.C. to make sure it works, too. I didn't realize the temperature was climbing so much today." She pulled out the elastic band that had been holding her hair in a ponytail and then ran her fingers through the strands, loosening them after a day of confinement. She closed her eyes and held her face up to the quickening evening breeze.

Her movements lured him over to her. He leaned against the other post, watching her candidly since her eyes remained closed. "This is definitely the nicest day we've had so far this spring."

"Yeah, let's hope there are a few more, so we can finish up the landscaping and the bajillion other outside things that still need to be done before guests start arriving in a couple of weeks."

"Plenty of time," Luke said distractedly, watching the smile on her pretty face as the wind picked up some of her curls and tossed them gently about her shoulders.

" _Dude! What in God's name are you waiting for?"_ From a universe away, he heard the other Lorelai shout at him.

He realized she was right. He left the safety of the post and took a step closer to his Lorelai, the right Lorelai. "Do you have a couple of minutes to spare tonight? Because there's something I was hoping to talk to you about."

She turned quickly to see him, a question forming on her mouth, and an expression in her eyes that he couldn't quite translate.

Behind them, the heavy front doors swung open. "Coming through!" Kirk Gleason yelled, shoving between them.

"Kirk!" Luke yelled, frustrated at the inopportune interruption. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Proving my potential worth to the Dragonfly!" he shouted, pausing for only a moment. He ran in place as he looked back at Lorelai. "I made a couple of changes to my résumé. You'll let me know if anything opens up, won't you, Lorelai?"

"Of course, Kirk. Thanks for your help today." She frowned, looking up and down the driveway. "How are you getting home?"

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a headband with a light on it. He switched on the light and then stretched the headband around his head, all the while jogging in place. "Mother's picking me up in exactly five minutes at the end of the drive, so I've got to go. She doesn't like it if she has to wait!" He nodded seriously and began to sprint down the lane.

They watched the bobbing light as it faded from sight.

"Somehow that disturbs me and yet doesn't surprise me at all," Lorelai commented.

"You wouldn't really hire him, would you?"

"God, no! Can you imagine?" Lorelai shook her head. "Although I did make a new hire today."

"Really? Who?"

"Some guy Sookie knows from the Independence. The way she talked about him, I thought they were sworn enemies, but then she asked me today if we could find a place for him. I guess he begged her not to leave him alone over there."

Luke felt an otherworldly shiver run down his spine. "Is his name Michel, by any chance?"

She turned to look at him. "Yeah. You know him?"

"Only by reputation. He's sort of annoying, isn't he?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Sookie says he's good at his job, so I guess we'll see. I said we'd hire him on a three-month trial basis."

Luke nodded. "Sounds sensible."

She took another proud glance around her prized property, her reclaimed kingdom, before facing him with interest. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

In a fraction of a second, Luke forgot whatever he'd planned to say as an opening. He looked longingly at Lorelai – so beautiful, so sexy, so tempting in every way – and even though he heard the advice he'd been given last night about using words and telling her everything, he realized that maybe this was the one moment when he didn't need words at all. Maybe this was actually the perfect opportunity to let his actions speak.

Ignoring all other advice, he reached for her.

"Luke, wha –?" she started to say, her amazing blue eyes growing wide. But by then his lips were on hers.

He had sort of a vague plan to let the kiss segue into what he wanted to say to her, but he hadn't anticipated audience participation. He'd touched her lips softly, almost reverently, wanting to savor the moment when the one barrier still stubbornly remaining between them was breached. He hadn't considered that her arms might swing up around his neck, holding him tightly in place. Only in his dreams did he imagine that her mouth might open under his, and that her devilishly clever tongue might tease his own.

There was moaning. Some of it from Lorelai. One of them either pushed or pulled the other until Lorelai's back was pressed against the porch post. That's when the moaning began in earnest.

Two minutes of near ecstasy, and then they were forced to break for air. Panting, Luke put his hand against Lorelai's face, drinking in her every expression, almost scared to believe that the kiss had actually happened. As she blinked, something in her always-expressive eyes caught his attention. He turned her slightly so that the light from the newly installed sconces lit up her face.

"Oh, dear God." He leaned his forehead against hers as the truth became clear. "I'm such an idiot."

"I guess that's always a possibility," Lorelai said with a certain amount of grimness for a woman who'd been kissing so enthusiastically only a moment or two earlier. "Let's hear the idiocy."

"It's your eyes," he whispered to her. "Do you remember how I told you that there was something in the other Lorelai's eyes? And that you didn't have it?"

"Yes," she snapped.

Sensing her displeasure, he rushed into his explanation. "Well, now it's there. And now I realize it was because she believed I was her Luke, the _other_ Luke, and that's why she looked at me the way she did. She already loved me. Or, the me that she thought I was. That was the difference."

He was so proud of himself, for figuring it out, for explaining it so neatly to Lorelai. Finally, the last few pieces fell into place. For a moment he continued to stare into her midnight blue eyes, relishing the love he saw in them. He cradled her face and ran his thumbs tenderly just under her eyes.

It was a beautiful, life-changing moment…until Lorelai reared back and shoved him away from her. Her eyes blazed with something, but it wasn't love.

"That's what you think?" she roared, shoving him again for good measure. "You think that you just kiss me once, and _boom_ , just like that, I magically fall in love with you?"

Suddenly he was painfully aware of how stupid that sounded. "No, no, that's not –"

She wasn't in the mood to hear any explanations or apologies. "Damn _right_ no!" she yelled, furious, but then in the next instant, her arms were around him and she was kissing him again.

Luke was a little confused if they were fighting or making up, but after a few seconds of her sucking his tongue into her mouth, he wisely decided he didn't care. This time, he was the one who backed himself against the other porch post and let her have at him.

It became more than just kisses and bodies pressed against each other. Hands came into play, at first to soothe and embrace, but soon became vehicles of long-suppressed exploration. The moaning, part deux, began, and became a dialogue unto itself.

Lorelai was the one to finally tear herself away, and Luke immediately learned she was still upset. "Listen, what you see in these eyes? This love you can suddenly see?" She pointed to them, and he was crushed to see tears swimming there. "It's not new, Luke. It's been there, since…" She broke off, swallowing hard. "For months and months, and _months_. Months of me doubting myself and trying not to care. Trying not to push too hard. Trying to step back, and let you have the time –"

He couldn't stand to see her so upset, especially when the upset was caused by him. "Shh, Lorelai." He tried to hold her to him, to stroke her hair. "It's OK, sweetheart." The unexpected endearment surprised him as much as it did her.

She refused to docilely accept his ministrations. She pulled back to look at him directly again. "No, it's not. At least, not yet. You need to understand that the way I feel about you is not new. The only thing that's new is that you finally caught up. You finally decided to believe it's there."

The previous months passed before him, as if they were in a photo album, and he knew she was right. She was absolutely right. He'd been blind. For whatever reason, he'd pretended not to see.

He pulled her to him, and this time she let him. He pressed a kiss against her temple. "I'm so sorry, Lorelai. Like I already told you, I'm an idiot."

"Luckily for you, apparently I love idiots." She kissed him quickly, full on the mouth. "Just don't think you can get away with this again. Don't ever make me wait again. I'm warning you, I don't have the patience for it."

"No more waiting, ever," he agreed, and wrapped her in his arms. She responded immediately, lips touched, and they were off again on their grand exploration of Stars Hollow's most tempting bodies.

It wasn't long, though, before Luke had to renege on his words of agreement. "Whoa, wait a minute. What are you doing?" he whispered to her, trying to deflect her busy hands from the waistband of his jeans.

Her fingers located and then tugged on the buckle of his belt. "This hurts."

"Oh, geez. Sorry," he said contritely, kissing her neck. He rubbed soothingly at her abdomen, trying to visualize where the offending metal had most likely grazed her skin.

She continued to pluck at his belt and the waistband of his jeans, making him increasingly edgy. "Lorelai, _what_ are you doing?" he asked again, a little more desperately this time.

"I want this off," she said honestly, continuing to yank on the belt.

"I really don't think that's the best idea –"

"Luke, it's not a big deal. I like the way you feel. I like the way you feel against me." She grinned at him, in that ' _what are you doing to do about it'_ way she had. "I'd like to go on feeling you against me. It's just the belt I don't like."

"Well, when you put it that way…" He began to pull the strap out of the loops. Lorelai's fingers eagerly joined his.

"I can do this on my own," he pointed out.

"But I like to help," she insisted, with the same sly smile on her face.

The belt clanked to the floor beside them and the kissing fired back up.

With the belt out of the way, it wasn't long before Lorelai had his t-shirt pulled free of his jeans. Her hands slid up and down his back, under the tee. She registered each of his ribs as she traveled up and down the sides of his torso. She squeezed a hand between them, onto his abdomen, and catalogued every inch of his chest by touch.

Her sensual examination of his body was making it most difficult for him to replenish the oxygen he was losing though agonized panting. He was just about ready to make a plea for her to stop, when her hands dove to his back and latched onto the bottom of his t-shirt. Before he could take a full breath, the shirt was gone from his back, over his head, and was being pulled from his arms.

"Lorelai!" he chastised her. He stood with his hands on his hips, trying to glare at her through the lust in his eyes.

She laughed and stepped back a few inches, the better to see him. She again ran her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, across the top of his jeans to his belly button, and then went up his chest to complete her tactile journey at his shoulders. "Ooh, this is a really good look for you. You should stand like this all the time," she suggested.

He shook his head at her. "What if I'd been the one to yank your shirt off?" he tried to ask sternly. The second the words were uttered he knew he'd miscalculated their effect.

Lorelai crossed her arms over her chest, seized the hem of her own t-shirt, and pulled it off over her head, letting it drop carelessly to the porch floor.

" _Jesus_ , Lorelai." Everything was dark all around them, except for the spotlight provided by the sconces. Their light shone on Lorelai and lit up her body as if she was a crafted marble statue positioned there solely for his enjoyment. He froze, scared to even blink for fear of ruining the moment.

Lorelai had no such fear. She moved back into place, tight against him, and as soon as her heated skin touched his, he responded the only way he could, mapping out her bare skin the same way she had his.

"Get rid of it," she told him breathlessly a few minutes later, when his fingers once again caught on the clasp of her bra.

Her words cut through his haze of desire and he stopped all activity. "You're sure?" he whispered.

"Of course I'm sure. It's just in the way."

Scarcely breathing himself, he squeezed the clasp until the hooks slipped from the eyes. Lorelai tipped away from him, just enough for him to be able to chase the straps down her arms and allow the lace-covered garment to join the other items of clothing collecting on the floor.

For a second he drank in the sight of her, but it was too much. It overloaded his senses too much. Desperate to maintain his sanity, he grabbed her and pulled her tightly against him. But that proved to be deadly as well, as the heavenly skin-to-skin contact pushed him even closer to the edge.

Lorelai reached for his face and brought him to her for an endless kiss. This time he was the one to find a way to fit a hand between them, to explore her newly exposed, perfectly sculpted attributes.

Moans and groans and heavy breathing drowned out whatever other night sounds were audible around the inn. Time had no meaning as they created their own little universe of pleasures.

"Pick a number," Lorelai gasped, after another few minutes or a couple of hours – there was no way to know for sure.

Luke shook his head, almost thankful that she'd done something to make them pause. "What?"

"Number. Pick a number. Anything between one and ten."

He buried his head in her neck, trying to catch his breath. "Seven," he said, for absolutely no reason, willing himself to play whatever silly game she'd thought of to get them calmed down.

"Seven. Great. Good choice." She took his hand and began to tug him towards the door.

"Whoa, hang on! Where are we going?"

She turned around to see him. "Room seven. Let's go. Chop-chop."

"Lorelai, wait!" He put on the brakes, forcing her to stop.

"Why? After our half-naked make-out session here on the porch, I assume you won't care that there's no door on the room."

"No, that's not it." He gave her a look, right in her eyes. He didn't dare look anywhere else.

"Luke, we both know this is happening. No more waiting, right? Now, come on. I need a bed under me." She threw one of her sexiest grins his way. "Or under you. Either way's fine. Right now, I have no preference." The tension between their clasped hands lessened as she took a step towards him and gave him a kiss. "Really? This is the way it's going to be? You're going to make me beg to have sex with you?"

Somewhere, in a different universe, another Lorelai laughed and offered her cosmic sister a high-five in solidarity.

Luke chuckled too. "No begging needed, although…that might be interesting, some other time." He caught her up and kissed her with no hesitation. "Let's go see room seven."

"You'll love it. It's a great room," she assured him, pulling him through the doors and over to the stairs. "You'll give it a 4-star review."

"Four stars? That sounds tame. I was going for the triple-X rating."

A step ahead of him, Lorelai turned around, giggling. "This might be even more fun than I thought it was going to be."

One stair-step difference in their heights changed everything. When Luke pulled her to him this time, everything aligned perfectly. "This is going to be something more than just _fun_ ," he informed her gravely. Then he kissed her with everything he had.

"Oh, my _God_ ," Lorelai said shakily, when he let her go. "Will you get up here already?" They hurried up the remaining stairs and Lorelai shoved him into a room. He was willing to take her word for it that it was number seven.

They kissed with the passion of another couple he'd once seen in a picture, who'd had bottles of beer and twinkle lights to illuminate them. He openly maneuvered them towards the bed Lorelai so fervently desired.

Surprisingly, she suddenly stopped. She pulled away and crossed her arms over her chest, looking down.

"Too fast?" he wondered, gently rubbing her arm. "There's no rush, you know."

"No, it's not that." She gave him an apologetic smile. Her arms remained firmly crossed. "I just suddenly remembered how icky I am."

He barked out a laugh before bending to kiss her forehead. "Of all the words I could use to describe you right now, 'icky' is definitely not on the list."

She shrugged, still looking uncomfortable. "It's just…I've thought about doing this with you a lot, and in my fantasies, I've always been in a pristine state, suitable for handling or kissing anywhere you might desire. Or, at the very least, I wasn't sweaty or stinky from working all day."

He ran a tender hand under her hair, lightly massaging her neck. "What are you saying here? You want to do this another time? Because that's fine if you –"

"No! God, no!" Her face tilted up and she dropped her arms to her side. "I just want to rinse off under the shower for a minute or two. Would that be OK?" She stepped up cuddle against him again. "Could you hang on for a little bit, if I promise to make it worth your while?"

"Of course! Go get clean."

"Thanks, babe." She kissed him swiftly and then turned to head for the shower area.

He followed right with her.

She stopped and looked at him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Going with you," he nodded.

"I'm sorry… _what_?"

"I'm all hot and sweaty, too. I'll just join you."

"Luke," she laughed, in disbelief.

"I want to be all pristine for you, too. You know, for any handling and kissing _you_ might want to do."

She looked at him, big-eyed, and gulped. "Luke…" she murmured.

He took her in his arms, hugging her to him. "No more waiting," he reminded her.

She stared back at him for a brief spell of time. "OK," she agreed, somewhat hesitantly. She reached for the light switch, revealing the bathroom.

Luke moved to the shower and turned on the water, waiting for it to warm up. When he turned back to check on Lorelai, she was standing in front of the mirror, taking the hair tie out of her pocket. She raised her arms and pushed her hair up to the top of her head. Luke almost choked from the sight.

Pure instinct drew him over to her. He skimmed his hands over all of the tempting skin he could see in the mirror.

She moaned and dropped her arms. Her curls fell back over her shoulders as her eyes closed against the feeling his fingers were creating. A moment later, she said his name again, sounding helpless.

He stopped, took a breath, and then clumsily attempted to gather her curls up to the top of her head. He fumbled with the elastic band, finally getting it to hold her topknot in place. "Like that?" he asked, sliding his hand down her neck, then further down her spine.

She barely glanced in the mirror. "Yeah, that's fine." Her eyes lowered and she stared at the sink.

"Hey, now." Luke took her shoulders and turned her to face him. "If any of this isn't OK with you, just say so. If you're not comfortable, all you have to do is tell me."

"No, it's not that." She placed her hands on his arms and finally looked at him, giving him a slight smile. "I guess I'm just having trouble reconciling that this is the same guy who's been my pal for all of these months. The one who always held himself in check and seemed so reserved. The one who seemed a little prudish, even." She smiled wider and playfully pushed against his chest. "And now he wants to take a shower with me."

"You're not the only one who's been thinking about this for months and months and months. Let's just say that I've had plenty of time to consider some different alternatives, should the occasion ever present itself."

She wound her arms around his neck. "I guess I need to accept that there's yet another Luke lurking around that I didn't know about."

"No, he's been here all along. Just biding his time." He bent his head to kiss her forehead.

"Come on, let's get in the shower before we waste all the hot water." She took his hand and began to pull him into the steamy air. "Two rules, though. My hair doesn't get wet and the main event doesn't happen in here."

"I make no promises about either of those things," Luke declared, which made her laugh. He tugged her back to him before she could open the shower curtain. "But this is what I do promise, Lorelai. What we're doing here – not just the shower and room seven, but the whole thing – I'm all in. There's love in my eyes, too, and I'm all in."

She gasped from shock, and then her face brightened into a transcendentally happy glow. "Come here, you, and hurry up, or we won't even make it _to_ the shower."

* * *

Later – much later – Luke mustered up enough energy to turn his head to see Lorelai sprawled on the bed beside him. Through the empty space where the door should have been, faint light filtered in from the hallway emergency exit lights, allowing him to see her profile.

He put a hand on her thigh. "OK if I ask you something?"

"No," she sighed.

"No?" he repeated, taken aback. "Why no?"

"Because I am no longer capable of speech. I shall henceforth only converse in ecstatic moans."

He grinned. "Although I truly believe you could communicate quite effectively that way, do you think maybe you could make the effort and give me a word or two?"

"If you insist," she grumbled dramatically. "I think we should just lay here in a state of bliss for a while, but if _you_ want to talk…"

He smiled up at the ceiling. "At the risk of sounding needy, I guess I'd like for you to clarify something you said when we were on the porch."

"I believe most of what I said on the porch was actually spoken through moaning, wasn't it?"

"This might have been slightly before the real moaning started."

She paused, as if she was attempting to figure out what he was wondering about. "Sure, ask away."

"When we talked about what was in your eyes…" Trying to discuss it now, Luke felt intense awkwardness. "Anyway, you said that what I was seeing had been there for a while."

"Love, Luke. It's called love. We're adults. We can use the proper terms without embarrassment."

Although he was still nervous, he smiled at her comments. "What I want to know, is that true, or were you just trying to get me into bed?"

"It can't be both?" she asked lightly.

He didn't reply immediately. "Is it both?"

She seemed to understand finally that this was a real conversation. "Of course it's both. Love's been there for a really long time."

He breathed easier. "How long?"

"Well, let me think." Flat on her back, she raised her knees and folded her hands over her stomach. "You might not remember this. There was a day when you drove to Hartford and bluffed your way into my office to see me. Does that ring a bell?"

"I'm being serious here."

"I am too." Her head rustled the pillow as she turned to look at him. "It's kind of adorable, how unaware you are of the impression you make."

He shook his head. "So you're saying that first day in Hartford, like it was love at first sight or something? You expect me to believe that?"

"Well, I expect you to believe the truth, and that's true, so…yes. You should believe it." She sighed and settled back against her pillow. "You rocked my world when you came through the door that day, Luke. There you were, all 6-foot-whatever of absolute male gorgeousness, and that was before I even saw the eyes and the eyelashes. And the smile. No, wait – you didn't hit me with the smile until later. Plus, you had this sweet vulnerability wrapped around you that made you even hotter. I was intrigued by the stuff you were spouting about my lost day, but frankly, I would have gone anywhere with you under any pretense. All I knew was I wasn't going to lose a chance to be with you."

"Six-even," he said, after a pause.

"Noted," she said, and he could feel her smile. But then she blew out a breath. "I didn't see the ring until we were crossing the parking lot," she revealed quietly. "I was crushed. But I was also already in too deep. I told myself there was nothing wrong with eating lunch with you, or listening to what you had to say."

"There wasn't," he agreed insistently, remembering his own arguments along the same lines.

She was quiet for too long. "For you, no there wasn't. For me…I was already willing to plot the unknown wife's death."

"That's not true. You wouldn't even come back to the diner after the first time for fear of upsetting Rachel."

There was another long spell of silence. "Do you remember when we said good-bye on the sidewalk?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Walking away from you that day…it was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

He found her hand and twined his fingers with hers. "I felt the same way."

"I don't think you did. I just had the strongest feeling that you were – for lack of a better description – _it_. That we were supposed to find each other. But…you were married…so I did the decent thing and walked away, even though it felt like I was ripping my heart out with every step."

"I was the one who turned around. I wanted to see you one more time," he confessed. "But you'd already disappeared into the building."

"I had to. I didn't dare look back at you. I didn't trust what I might do. And I really didn't want a restraining order looming over me."

"But still, you came to see Stars Hollow."

"Yeah, I convinced myself that there was nothing wrong with seeing this place that another Lorelai had already visited. I gave myself all sorts of excuses why it was OK. But the truth was I just wanted to see you again."

He squeezed her hand. "I was pretty happy to see you, too. I couldn't forget how easy it was to talk to you that day in the park. How much fun it was just to sit and eat together. It really showed me how sad my normal life was."

"I walked into the diner, and…there you were, with that same great smile. For that one glorious moment, I was so deliriously happy. Then Rachel popped up, and I had to accept that she existed. She had the claim to you, and if I acted on my feelings at all, then I was nothing but this despicable homewrecker, destined for hell. So I put on a happy face and repeated over and over that you were married; that you already had this complete life. You didn't need me."

"Well, I did," Luke said dryly, "but I just wasn't ready to admit that yet." He turned his head and nuzzled against her shoulder. "Could you tell how jealous I was of Sookie?"

"No," she chuckled. "Go on. This sounds good."

"I was crushed when I found out that you and Sookie had formed a friendship of your own, that you two had been seeing each other since the day you met in the diner. Knowing that you were working on the Dragonfly plan without even telling me about it really hurt. I'd never felt so left out."

"Aww, poor baby." Lorelai stroked his hair. "Should I now confess something about the Dragonfly?"

"You can do anything you want," he sort of growled at her.

She giggled before continuing on seriously. "As much as I was in love with the idea of it, as much as I wanted to partner up with Sookie…there was another thought that just wouldn't go away. That if I bought the Dragonfly, I'd be in Stars Hollow all the time. I'd still get to see you. I tried to pretend I didn't know that idea was there, hovering about, but it was. All the time. The Dragonfly equaled Stars Hollow, which equaled you." She sighed. "And then it didn't matter, because Rachel took herself out of the equation." She quieted, and twirled a piece of her hair. "What do you think would have happened with the two of you, if I'd never made that first trip to Stars Hollow?"

"I'm not sure." He flopped onto his back again and regarded the ceiling. "I'd like to think we would have made the break anyway, but I don't know. That's the problem when you have two people who genuinely like each other and don't want to hurt the other one. Our situation definitely wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, either. That's why we were so stuck. That's why we needed the push." He reached down and patted her thigh. "Thanks for that."

"Anytime." She repositioned herself on her side of the bed, as if she was trying to find a more comfortable spot. "Just out of curiosity – when did you change your mind about me?"

"Change my mind about you? What do you mean?"

"Well, at the beginning, you weren't attracted to me at all. When did that change?"

A loud laugh of disbelief rumbled out of him. "Hmm, let's see. You might not remember this, but there was this day when I came to Hartford to find you, and I bluffed my way into your office –"

"Stop it. I'm not asking for a fairy tale. I really want to know."

"And I'm telling you. You asked when I was first attracted to you. We sat and ate in the park, and even though we talked for hours, I could have stayed there with you and talked for days. You made me laugh. You made me think. Of course I was attracted to you. I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Lorelai considered what he'd said. "You could have fooled me. Are you sure this isn't revisionist history from you now?"

"It's not revisionist, but it's undoubtedly more honest."

"Then why all of those months of pushing me away?"

He studied the ceiling again. "At the very beginning, it probably was Rachel. Even though, as we've both said, we did absolutely nothing wrong, I knew how I felt about you. What I thought about you. And what I thought about _when_ I thought about you. But…legally, Rachel was still my wife. Deserved or not, there was definitely some guilt there."

"OK, I can accept that. But then why still after she left? Even after the divorce was final?"

He forced himself to reflect on that question. "I think because I was scared of losing you."

"You mean, sort of like 'if you never had me, you couldn't lose me' kind of thing?"

"No, more like I wouldn't be in too deep when the universe decided to pull you away."

Lorelai started to make a noise but squelched it. "I'm trying very hard not to laugh at you."

He shook his head, understanding her desire to laugh. "I know, it's nuts. But all of this is nuts. And what guarantee did I have that this revolving door of Lorelais would stop and let you stay here? I honestly think that I had this fear that I'd kiss you and then you'd disappear and I'd never get you back."

To Lorelai's credit, she didn't laugh at that, either. Instead she pushed up on her elbows and then turned his way, lowering her face to his for a kiss. "Still here," she whispered after the kiss, patting his chest for emphasis.

He pulled her back for another kiss. "Thank God."

"Glad that's settled." She curled up against his side. "Maybe you should look at it another way. Maybe the more you kiss me, the more likely I am to stay put."

"Ah, the old ounce of prevention tactic. I'll make sure to make a note of that."

"Couldn't hurt." He could hear the smile in her words.

He gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I have a thing I'd like to clear up, too. What happened after we went to see Doula?"

She went still and then flounced away from him and landed back on her own side of the bed. "I don't know what –"

"Yeah, you do. You pulled yourself as far away from me as you could. You even ran off with your parents for three weeks, for God's sake. Of course you know why."

Lorelai didn't answer. She just stared at the ceiling, but Luke could feel the emotion running through her. He rolled her way, holding himself up on an elbow, so that he could see her face. "I figured it was the baby talk. You thought I didn't want kids, and you knew you did."

She bit her lips together and closed her eyes.

He hoisted himself on top of her, careful to take most of his weight on his arms. "Lorelai, look at me." When her eyes popped open, he continued. "If there was something you wanted, and I could give it to you, do you honestly think I'd ever say no?"

"Luke, this isn't me trying to wheedle a plate of chili fries at the diner. This is – well, I was going to say an eighteen-year commitment, but that's not true. It's a lifetime commitment. That's not something you ask of someone who isn't gung-ho about the idea to start with."

"You need to think back on our conversation that night. You only asked me about having a baby with Rachel."

She shook her head. "You said that babies were always sticky. You said you weren't a fan."

"But the context of the whole conversation was about why Rachel and I didn't have kids. You never asked how I'd feel about it with someone else."

She blinked a couple of times as she ran their words from that night back through her head. "So…how would you feel about it with someone else?"

"I think, when that time comes, we'd need to have another conversation." He bent down to kiss her. "But it would probably be a pretty short one."

Her face softened with sudden hope. "But you're not saying no?"

"I'm not saying no." He kissed her quickly and then rolled off of her, groaning a little bit as he returned to his back. "I am wondering, though, why you decided to give me a chance, if the baby thing is still so important to you."

"Because you're just as important to me. Don't forget the love in my eyes," she said, a little mockingly, but her next sentence was all seriousness. "I might have missed my chance for having a baby, but I'd be crazy to knowingly give up my chance with you. You win over everything, Luke."

"I think we both win." He couldn't stifle a yawn.

"I think it's time to table all of this big talk stuff. What do you want to do about sleeping arrangements?"

"Don't we already have that settled?" He sent a confused look her way, while gesturing all around them at room number seven.

"I don't know what you need to do, though. Do you need to be back at your own place for morning, to open the diner? How much longer do you want to stay here?"

Again, he lumbered up to an elbow, to see her. "Wherever you sleep, I sleep."

She grinned. "I like the sound of that. Do you want me to come back home with you? I could, if that makes your morning easier."

He looked around the dimly-lighted room. "Is there an alarm somewhere? As long as I can get up in time to open, I'm fine. And frankly, I'm too tired to drag myself back home right now." He leaned over for a kiss. "You wore me out."

"Ditto," she laughed. She rolled to the other side and picked up a clock-radio beside the bed. "What time should I set it for?"

"Usually I get up at 4:45, but since I'll still have to drive to the diner…probably better make it 4:30."

"Ugh, you're killing me here," she grumbled, nevertheless programming in the numbers. "Maybe I need to rethink this whole 'let's be lovers' thing."

"Please don't," he requested, leaning over far enough to rub his hand against her back.

"Only because you lived up to the triple-X rating. The second it drops to only a double-X, I'm putting in for a universe transfer."

Lorelai put down the clock-radio and scooted herself back over to him. He put his arms around her and she cuddled up against him. He kissed her forehead a couple of times, starting to drift off to sleep. His trip to the Land of Nod was interrupted by Lorelai counting on her fingers.

"It works out!" she gasped in delight.

"Hmm?" He was really too sleepy to care.

"There are nine days before we do the guest weekend! We can try out _every_ room first!"

"You are cracked," he muttered.

"No, I'm not. I'm just excited. And turned on. And…in love." She whispered the last, sounding unusually shy for Lorelai.

He didn't open his eyes, but he smiled. He kissed her forehead again. "You pick the room number tomorrow night."

"Oh, don't think I won't." She found the perfect spot to curl up against him and sleep soon washed over them both.

* * *

At 4:30 AM, rock music blared, loud enough to be heard back in town. Lorelai shrieked, adding to the din, and Luke jumped out of bed, his arms flailing, ready to fight if needed.

Lorelai calmed down enough to find the off button on the alarm. "Oh, my God," she said, collapsing back on her pillow. "Well, there's something to check before we have guests. Make sure the clock-radios aren't set to heart attack levels in any of the rooms."

Luke laid back down too, his heart still pumping double-time due to the rude awakening. "Yeah, definitely put that on your list of things to do."

"Don't want to kill our guests. No repeat business that way."

"Nope." Now that he was calming down, he remembered where he was, and more importantly, who he was with. He rolled over to see her. "Morning," he said lazily, zeroing in for a kiss.

"Hi, you." She looped an arm around his neck, holding him captive, and lengthened the kiss. "Mmm, talk about repeat business…"

Both of them were still under the influence of the night before, their bodies still pulsing from the highs they'd experienced together. One long kiss lead right to another, longer one. Neither cared about morning breath.

"Hungry," Lorelai murmured, against his lips.

"I'm not surprised. I'm pretty sure we skipped dinner," he said, nibbling on her skin.

"Not that kind of hungry," she said, shifting her body slightly underneath his.

"Starving," he whispered, sliding into place.

And another hour slipped away.

* * *

"Can you please put something on?" Luke barked at Lorelai, frantically trying to get dressed. "You're more than a little distracting." He hopped around a bit, one leg in his jeans, as he scanned the floor. "Where the hell's my belt?"

"You mean the belt that's down on the porch with my shirt and bra?" Lorelai asked coolly.

"Oh…yeah." Luke remembered in sudden, vivid detail what had happened with his belt. "I'll be right back."

He raced down the stairs and saw that they'd left the front door standing wide open. He scooped up their clothes, damp with morning dew, and headed back up.

"Here." He dumped their things on the bed. "We didn't even bother shutting the front door last night. Hope no critters found their way inside."

Lorelai pulled on her t-shirt and tugged her hair out from under it, trying to fluff it a bit. "If any did, I hope they stayed out of room five." She pushed her finger against his shoulder, once he had his own shirt on. "That's where we'll be tonight, by the way."

"Any special reason why?" He threaded the belt through the loops.

"Nope. Just thought we'd do the odds, then the evens."

"Works for me." He caught her in his arm and pulled her to him. "Sorry I snapped at you. Not the memory I want to leave you with."

"I understand. We sort of screwed ourselves this morning." She grinned and winked. "In more ways than one."

He kissed her, for longer than he intended. "I think I can live with the one if it means the other."

"We'll do better tomorrow. Tonight, we'll come with everything we need."

He couldn't stop his own cheeky grin. "I think we came with everything we needed last night, too." He paused, long enough for her to give an appreciative chuckle, before he kissed her. "Will I see you in the diner for breakfast?"

"Oh, you bet you will, bucko. Hey, do I get a special girlfriend rate now?" She pretended to glare at him. "Or does sleeping with you get me nothing?"

"I think it's gotten you plenty already." He touched her face and landed a quick kiss to her lips. "OK, I've got to get to town. Are you leaving too?"

"No, I'm going to stay long enough to get the room cleaned up and put back into tip-top shape. Don't want to leave any forensic evidence around that points to us."

"Geez, right." He glanced around at the mess they'd made. "Sorry I can't stick around to help."

"Don't worry, that's my occupation now. You go do yours."

It occurred to him that he was never going to leave if he didn't force himself to go. There would always be one more thing to say, one more quip, one more kiss. "Bye," he said stoically, marching to the opening where the door should be. "See you at the diner later."

Lorelai followed him to the stairs. "And in room five tonight!"

"No chance I'll forget that."

"Bye, Lover!" she trilled after him.

Luke raced across the lobby, pausing only long enough to turn off the sconces. On the porch, he grabbed the borrowed stepladder and returned it to where he found it, and once that was done, he made sure the entry door was securely closed. He found his clammy flannel shirt, slapped his dew-spotted hat back on his head, picked up his toolbox and bolted to the driveway.

There was a brief moment of panic when he didn't see his truck. Then he remembered he'd left it parked in the barn.

Finally, he was ready to leave the Dragonfly. As the truck started the trip down the long lane, he found the phone he rarely used, but that Rachel had insisted he have, and called Caesar.

"Boss?" Caesar answered, sounding confused.

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm not there. Go ahead and use the outside key to get in. I'm on my way now. Should be there in about fifteen, OK?"

Caesar didn't reply right away, and when he did, he sounded even more unsure. "You're not here?"

Luke actually pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a second. "Geez, Caesar, does it _look_ like I'm there?"

"No, I mean…I thought you were upstairs. Like you overslept or something. But you're saying…you're not here _at all_." There was a slight pause. "Oh!" he said, in sudden understanding. _"Ohhhh!"_

Luke sighed. "Go in and get things started. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sure, boss." There was a knowing lilt to his voice now. "Take your time."

Luke grunted something and ended the call. Before he could do anything else, he saw another pickup truck turn into the driveway entrance from the road.

There was barely enough room for two vehicles to pass on the narrow lane. Luke eased over as far as he could on his side, and the other driver did the same.

It turned out to be Tom, getting to the job site ungodly early for some reason. He gave Luke a cursory nod as he passed by.

Luke's eyes went to the rearview mirror. He saw the brake lights glow on Tom's pickup as the truck came to an abrupt stop. He saw Tom's head swivel backwards, staring at him.

"Shit," Luke said. He watched in the rearview for a few more seconds, until Tom's shock wore off and he continued on his way to the inn.

Before turning onto the road, Luke stopped to make another call, this time to Lorelai. He could justify using his phone while driving down a private lane, but it was a chance he'd never take on the street.

"Miss me already?" she said, her voice sexy and teasing.

"Yes, but that's not why I'm calling. I wanted to let you know you've got incoming. Tom just passed me, driving up the lane." Luke took a quick breath. "He saw it was me."

"Shit," Lorelai muttered.

"My reaction exactly."

"Well…OK. We'll deal," she said calmly. "Unless…I don't know. Do we need to keep this under wraps? Is that what you want?"

Luke weighed the ribald remarks and the jokes that would be tossed his way versus the pleasure of having Lorelai openly by his side. As usual, Lorelai won. "No," he said. "I don't care who knows."

"Other than I want to tell Sookie before she hears it from someone else, I don't either. So I guess I'll put my big girl pants on and go talk to Tom as if I have nothing to hide."

"You took your pants off after I left?"

"Ha, I thought that would get your attention! No, just a figure of speech. Thank God my bra's not laying on the porch anymore."

"Yeah, that's lucky," he said wryly. He looked cautiously up and down the deserted street before pulling out. "Look, I'm on the way to the diner, so I'm hanging up."

"OK. Thanks for my best night ever, stud."

She could always make him smile. "Right back at'cha."

"Whoa, I'm a stud, too?"

"You know exactly what you are. If you don't, I'll explain it in more detail tonight." An animal dashed across the road, maybe a cat, and Luke briefly hit the brakes, while his mind shifted to somewhere else. "Hey, did you ever think about getting a dog?"

Lorelai chuckled. "A dog? No, why?"

"I'll tell you tonight," he promised. "Tonight I'll tell you all the stuff I know you should know."

* * *

 **Author's Chat:** Uh-huh, this chapter definitely has my new favorite line. The fact that's it's uttered by a naked Luke is just a bonus. Don't worry that he didn't spill the beans about his short trip into the other universe. This first night was just for them to savor. They'll talk about everything else - like getting a dog - some other time! I'm excited that we're to the end, but also sad that this story is nearly over. This one has been a ton of fun for me! See you at the epilogue!

(Fun Fact: Once upon a time, I was the devoted leader of GS Troop 434!)


	15. Epilogue: The Invisible Thread

"Excuse me, ladies," Luke said. He stood up, placing his napkin neatly beside his plate.

"Are you going after that gorgeous girl of yours?" Miss Patty asked, inclining her head towards the entrance to the Dragonfly's dining room. Obviously she'd seen Lorelai pass by the opening too.

Luke pushed his chair in and began to thread his way past the two women at his table. "I thought I'd go say hello. I haven't seen much of her today."

Babette cackled in that way he'd come to dread. "After all the hard work she's done around here, she deserves more than just a hello. You go kiss her good, and then get her to sit down for a spell. She's been running herself ragged. You tell her I say so."

"I will," Luke nodded. He was grateful that neither of them said anything more suggestive, especially since both of them now had a couple of glasses of wine under the belts of their plush robes.

As Luke walked away, he heard Babette comment to Patty, "I'm scared the poor thing's going to kill herself yet over this inn. I don't think she's been home even to sleep in the last week or so!" He stifled a chuckle and kept going. Obviously Babette was unaware that he hadn't slept in _his_ bed for the last ten days, either.

He glanced around the lobby, but as he suspected, Lorelai had escaped to the front porch for a breather. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

Content, she leaned back against him and crossed her arms over his.

"Do you know what I think about every time I see you out here?"

"Probably the same thing I do." Her fingers tugged on the cuff of his dress shirt, giving him a tactile answer.

"We have too many clothes on," he whispered into her ear.

"Agreed, but since my parents are in the dining room, it's probably best to stay dressed, don't you think?"

"Not only your parents, but various and sundry exes, too," he griped.

"And you know Taylor Doose is here. There's probably some sort of town statute about stripping in public."

"I wouldn't be surprised." He sighed, a little dramatically. "Thanks, by the way, for putting me at the table with the two biggest gossips in town."

"Would you have rather sat with my parents? The various and sundry exes?" She glanced backwards at him, a glint in her eye. "Tom, maybe?"

"No," he grumbled. Every interaction he'd had with Tom since that early morning in the Dragonfly's driveway had been awkward, even after he and Lorelai had gone public with their relationship.

"I'm just disappointed you didn't adopt your tablemates' dress code. I'm pretty sure every female here would have paid good money to see you come downstairs in a robe." She patted his hand. "I know I would."

"I'm not wearing a robe," he said flatly.

"Lucky for me," Lorelai purred, snuggling against him.

For a few moments they stared out at the twilight, enjoying their brief, private interlude of togetherness. The first fireflies of the season gave the twinkle lights twined around the dock a run for their money. Frogs croaked, and from the barn, one of the horses nickered.

He held her a bit tighter and pressed a kiss against her hair. "It really is beautiful, Lorelai."

She laughed in sheer delight. "It is, isn't it?"

"So are you." He tugged at her, wanting her to follow him to the rocking chairs at the end of the porch.

"Luke, I can't. There's so much to check on –"

"And you've got a full staff here to do just that. Come on, you can sit with me for a couple of minutes."

"Just a few," she warned him, nevertheless following him to the chairs. She plopped down with a groan and almost immediately turned sideways, swinging her legs up over his once he'd taken his seat. "Oh my God, my _feet_."

"What were you thinking?" he scolded. He unbuckled the straps of her high heels and let them fall to the floor as he began to rub her abused feet. "Why in the world did you wear these insane things tonight?"

"Because they're gorgeous!" she rebuked him. "And I wanted to look extra-special tonight."

"Which you do. But, you also knew you'd be running around like crazy. If there was ever a time to wear comfortable shoes, it was tonight!"

"Lorelai thinks 'comfortable shoes' is an oxymoron."

Luke startled, not having heard the front screen door open. Slightly embarrassed, he tried to push her legs off his lap, but Lorelai wouldn't budge.

"She'd wear high-heeled sneakers, if there was such a thing," Christopher continued.

"Ooh, you just gave me an idea for a new business venture," Lorelai told him cheerfully.

"Maybe you'd better get this one running first, but hey, cut me in on any profits from the shoes."

"You got it," she easily agreed.

"I'm glad I finally got to see the place." The statement rolled out of his mouth so suavely that no one would ever suspect it was a lie, except for Luke and Lorelai. They glanced at each other now, one suppressing mirth, and the other irritation.

Christopher looked around at the building and the grounds in admiration. "Thanks for inviting me here tonight, Lor. You've got a winner. Congratulations on making the whole thing happen."

"It's a winner if anybody can find the place," Jason disputed, walking up beside Christopher. He gave Luke a slight sneer of contempt before focusing on Lorelai. "But it is a beautiful inn, and your chef is a wizard when it comes to roast beef. I'll do what I can to steer people here."

"Ooh, that was _bad_ , Jason. You talk about roast beef and then use the word _steer_? But nevertheless, I do appreciate your support, terrible puns and all." Lorelai disentangled herself from Luke and padded over to hug them both.

Christopher kept her in his arms for longer than what Luke thought was necessary. He kissed her cheek and then looked into her eyes. "You're happy?" he asked quietly.

" _So_ happy," she said sincerely.

He blew out a breath and then released her. "Then, it's all good. But if that ever changes –"

" _We'll be back_ ," Jason muttered, in a not-very-good Schwarzenegger. He was already checking his phone.

Luke stood up and shook each of their hands. "Thanks for coming," he said, proving that Christopher wasn't the only one who could lie.

They watched as Lorelai's exes got in their cars and started the trip down the driveway. "I can't believe you invited them," he complained, as they returned to the rocking chairs. He lifted her feet back to his lap and began to rub them again without being asked. "And I can't believe they had the nerve to show up!"

"I wanted them to see us together. I wanted them to see it was settled." Lorelai leaned forward enough to put her hand against his face, making him look at her. "They're my friends, Luke, and they're always going to be around, but you're my…my guy. My significant other. My Luke. My everything," she summed up, trying to sound as if she was teasing, but he could tell by the look on her face that she meant every word.

He put his hand around one of her ankles, clasping it tenderly. "Ditto."

This time, they both heard the screen door open and close. "Oh, here you are," Rachel said, spotting them. "I wanted to say good-bye before I took off."

Lorelai instantly jumped to her feet. "Sorry," she stated, cringing. She made an apologetic gesture which encompassed herself, Luke, and even the rocking chairs.

"No, don't be," Rachel insisted. She smiled bravely. "It's weird, I won't lie about that. But at the same time, it's just as weird – but in a nice way – to see an actual smile on his face again."

Luke slowly stood up. He put a hand on Lorelai's shoulder, giving it a quick, reassuring squeeze, before he walked to Rachel. "It's nice to see you smile, too," he told her, giving her a warm hug. "I'm glad you were in town and could join us."

Rachel hugged him back tightly before she stepped away and glanced at Lorelai. "Thanks for including me tonight. That was…amazingly generous."

"Well, you've been a part of each other's life for a long time. It's not my goal to get in the way of that," Lorelai told her honestly.

Rachel looked at both of them in turn, her gaze ending up on Luke. "I suppose you think it was easy for me to leave." She drew a breath. "It wasn't. And there have been a lot of days since then when the guilt hit me hard. There were days when I beat myself up, thinking that I'd abandoned you here." She gave Luke a bittersweet smile. "I feel better – and also worse, strangely enough – seeing that I was completely wrong."

"I'm great," Luke said, giving a shrug. He looked directly at Rachel. "And you are too, right?"

She took a steadying breath. "I am."

"Then there's no reason for guilt," he told her.

"I know," she sighed. "Now that I've been away and had the time to look back, I think our mistake was assuming we were supposed to follow one path together. But we weren't. We each had a path, and we each needed our own map." She smiled kindly at Lorelai. "Now we know which path we should have always been on."

Lorelai responded enthusiastically, pointing at the inn's entrance. "Even _I_ finally got the memo about getting on the right path."

Luke swiftly met Lorelai's eyes, asking for understanding, before he answered Rachel. "Yeah, you're right. Everything's the way it should be, now." He touched Rachel's arm. "Not that I'm sorry for the years we had, though. For a while we believed it was the right thing, and I don't regret that we tried to make it work."

Rachel's eyes misted over and she blinked hard a couple of times before she could speak. "But this is _so_ much better," she emphasized, managing to direct a teasing grin his way.

Luke ducked his head, accepting what she'd said. "This _is_ better," he confirmed.

"I'll stop by the diner tomorrow before I leave town." Rachel began to walk to the steps, but she paused for a moment, looking around. "Lorelai, you've made the Dragonfly so beautiful. I can't image how hard you've worked to make it thrive again."

"Well, it's not exactly thriving yet," Lorelai laughed. "But that's the eventual plan."

"You know, I've got some pictures of it when it was in shambles. I'll see if I can find them and send you some copies."

"When did you take pictures?" Luke asked, surprised.

"Probably shortly after I came back to town. I know it was before we got married. I was wandering around one day, and I found a path back behind the mill that led over here. I took a ton of pictures, because you could still see the glory of the past shining through, despite the decay. I even thought about turning the shots into some kind of collection, but…" She faded off with another sigh.

Luke found Lorelai's gaze on him, as they both acknowledged the convergence of the universes once again.

"Anyway, the pictures are spectacular, If I say so myself. I know you'll appreciate them."

"Thanks, Rachel. I know I will too."

Lorelai reached for his hand as they watched Rachel drive away. "Hey, can I ask a favor?"

"Didn't we already settle this? As long as it doesn't involve a ten-pound bag of sugar, I'm probably going to say yes."

"If you ever find yourself in the other Stars Hollow again, will you go take a look at that Dragonfly for me? I'd be interested to know if I've done everything I'm supposed to."

"Lorelai, there's no 'supposed to.' This is here, now, and that's what matters. The only thing that counts is if you're satisfied with it."

"I am. I'm just curious, I guess."

He looked out over the lawn again, and thought about the circumstances that had brought them together. "I don't think there will be any more universe hopping. It's like Rachel said, we're all on the right path now. I don't think there's a reason for any further interdimensional nudging. We're right where we need to be."

Lorelai leaned against him and he put his arm around her. Together, they watched the fireflies flit around.

"I should get back inside," Lorelai sighed, pulling away.

"No, not yet. There's still something I'm supposed to do." He firmly guided her back to the rocking chairs and insisted she take a seat. From underneath his, he pulled out a small cooler.

"What is this?" she laughed.

"You don't remember?" He opened the cooler and took out two bottles of hard cider, made with pride by the Dragonfly's neighboring business. He pulled out his knife and removed the caps from the chilled bottles, then handed one to Lorelai. He clinked his bottle against hers. "It's almost a year later, and here we are."

Lorelai's face lit up as she recalled their conversation from so many months earlier. "Oh, right! Here we are, um…sitting on this sturdy, rebuilt porch."

"Relaxing in a couple of rocking chairs, enjoying a frosty beverage, looking down at the lights on the pier."

"Listening to all of the happy voices from inside the dining room, as they enjoy Sookie's exquisite meal."

Luke saluted her with his bottle, and then they both took a drink.

"I believe there's something else you need to say to me, isn't there?" she prodded him. "Something very important that you need to acknowledge?"

"There is," he agreed. He reached for her free hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss. He continued to hold it tightly. "Congratulations, Lorelai. What you've accomplished here is remarkable. You've brought the Dragonfly back. You were right." He gave her hand a slight shake and grinned at her. "I was wrong."

She chuckled in appreciation. "Ha, you just sit there and bask in your wrongness! Do you hear that?" She shook her fist at the universe in general. "I was right!"

"You were," Luke agreed amiably. He leaned forward to give her a kiss.

After the kiss, she was slow to open her eyes. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without you. I wouldn't even _be_ here without you. I wouldn't know about the Dragonfly, or even about Stars Hollow, if it wasn't for you."

Luke shook his head, looking down thoughtfully at the bottle of hard cider. "I prefer to think it would have all come together anyway, that someday we would have met."

"The stars would have ultimately aligned, no matter what?"

"Maybe I _would_ have shown up at one of your mother's fundraisers, one day. Or a mayoral breakfast."

Lorelai barely smiled at his joke, her mind obviously elsewhere. "Listen, there's something I want to say, but there's something else I need to say first."

"Of course there is."

She put her bottle down on the floor, so he did the same. She reached for both of his hands. "Luke, I want you to know that what I said to Chris a little bit ago is absolutely true. I'm _so_ happy. I never dreamed I could be this happy. I love the Dragonfly. I love Stars Hollow. I love you."

"But?" he added, hearing the pause in her speech.

"But…doesn't it feel like there's still something that's missing?" She swallowed hard, and went for broke. "Or more accurately, some _body_ who's missing?"

Still holding her hands, he stood up, and pulled her up too. "I concur."

"Wait. You…you do?"

He hugged her to him. "I think we should try to fix that as soon as possible, don't you?"

"Luke. Oh, my God. You mean it?"

He decided that maybe this was another time when actions could speak clearer than words ever could.

When the kiss ended, Lorelai put her head against his chest. "So did this count as the short conversation we needed to have about the topic?"

"Yep," he said succinctly, which made her laugh and then hug him as tightly as she could. Luke took advantage of her state of amazement, holding her in his arms and sneaking as many kisses as possible.

"OK, I suppose I should go check on my guests." With great reluctance, she finally pulled away. "I'm sure we'll cross paths during the rest of the evening, but if not, I'll meet you in the Carriage House suite at bedtime, right?"

"Do we have to?" he grumbled, his good mood dissipating.

"Please, Luke." She clasped her hands in front of her and looked at him beseechingly. "Please, please, please."

A laugh tumbled out of him. "What is _that_?"

"Begging. You said that might be interesting, sometime."

"Hmm, that's not quite what I had in mind." He shook his head at her. "Besides, how many other rooms have we already slept in?"

"Nine. But this one's better."

"Better? This one's not even done! How can it be better?"

"Because it's separate from the rest of the place. We'll be all by ourselves and can make as much noise as we want to." She waggled her eyebrows at him. "And hey, there _is_ a door."

"But is there a bed?"

"Of a sort."

"What's that mean?"

"It means…there is a bed-ish sort of device installed, ready for our comfort." When Luke glared at her, she continued. "Fine. It's an air mattress. But it's only for one night! Look at all of the pluses. A door, electricity, running water, and a place to sleep with your gorgeous girlfriend. I really don't see the downside here, Luke."

"The downside is…" He put his hands on his hips and looked away from her. "The downside is that your parents are going to know we're sleeping together," he muttered.

"Babe, I'm pretty sure they've already figured that out."

"But still…" He shuddered, because grown man or not, he was horrified by the idea of her parents knowing what they were doing.

"Look at it this way. I've got to stay here tonight, to make sure it all goes smoothly with both the staff and our invited guests. All of the other rooms are being used, so I _have_ to take the unfinished one. But if you really don't want to spend the night here, I guess I can cope. Go back to town, and I'll see you in the morning."

"No, I'll stay," he grumbled. After a mere ten nights – one of which was unbelievably spent in a zucchini patch with Sookie and Jackson – he couldn't imagine sleeping apart from her. He shot her a knowing glare. "Let me guess. Once the Carriage House suite _is_ done, with a bed and other amenities, you'll want to stay in it again, won't you?"

"Well, it _is_ my job to make sure everything is ready for guests," she said primly.

"You have a problem," he informed her. "You're a new mattress junkie."

"And you're an angel." She put her arms around him from behind and laid her head against his back. "You've got wings, baby."

"I've got a crazy girlfriend, that's what I've got," he said, not really complaining.

"Lorelai, you must come here." Michel was calling from the door. "There is a man who is demanding more cards on which to write the comments, and I cannot find any."

"Fine, Michel. I'll be right there," Lorelai said in a slightly peevish voice.

"Hurry," Michel instructed.

"How's he working out?" Luke wanted to know.

"Eh, I don't know. He's annoying as hell, but all of the guests seemed charmed by him. Apparently they think it's an act."

He kissed her one more time. "OK. Go to work. Don't forget your shoes."

Lorelai scowled at the super cute, super tall high heels. "I think I'll barefoot it for a while."

"I'm pretty sure the Board of Health frowns on that."

"Maybe I'll carry them in my hand, and if the Board of Health shows up, I'll act like I was just putting them on."

Luke shook his head at that, but didn't try to dissuade her.

She took a few steps away, but soon turned back. "You won't change your mind, will you?"

He didn't have to ask about what. "We've already had the discussion, Lorelai. It's a done deal."

If he didn't already love her, the look on her face at that moment would have captured his heart. He cleared his throat. "Go," he growled at her. "Go get these people into their rooms, so we can go sleep on our spiffy air mattress."

" _Sleep?"_ she questioned him, raising one eyebrow. "In what universe would _that_ happen?"

With a saucy grin, she went through the door into her inn. "How's everybody doing?" he heard her call out as she neared the dining room. "Does anybody want more roast beef? How many of you are ready to skedaddle up to bed, huh? _No?_ What, I'm the only one who can't wait to go to bed?"

* * *

 _Many moons later..._

They'd been in the small room enough times now that Luke knew the routine. He no longer felt self-conscious while helping Lorelai up onto the reclining table. He wasn't embarrassed to give her a hand in pulling up her shirt, or pushing the waistband of her pants down a few additional inches. He rarely asked questions when they were there, but he'd done his share of internet research. He knew the basics of how the machine worked, and why Tabitha, their favorite technician, squirted the clear gel onto Lorelai's abdomen. In all honesty, though, the medical sites could have called the device in her hand a magic wand, and he would have bought that, too.

Tabitha switched off the lights in the room, leaving the monitor as the only source of illumination. "Big day today, right?"

Lorelai patted at her bump. "Bigger every day," she pointed out proudly.

"That's just want we want for a few more months," Tabitha laughed, moving the scanner over Lorelai's skin. "The goal is to get you bigger and bigger."

"Then I am succeeding 100 percent."

"OK, here we go." Tabitha pushed harder against Lorelai, and a denser, rounder blob of squiggly white appeared on the monitor. "Looking good," she murmured, busy clicking the device in her hand and taking measurements. She moved the device a few inches lower. "Great, got the money shot here. You sure you want to know?"

"Yes," Lorelai said decisively, and Luke nodded his head while reaching for Lorelai's hand.

"Then, congratulations, Mom and Dad. You've got a little girl."

"Really?" Lorelai squealed. "Seriously? It's a girl?"

Tabitha pointed to an area on the screen. "No doubt about it."

"Luke!" Lorelai clutched his hand tightly, half-crying, half-laughing. "Babe, we did it! We got our girl!"

Completely overcome, he couldn't speak. He nodded, then lowered his head down to the flat pillow doing a lousy job of cushioning Lorelai's head. He pressed his face against hers, kissing her cheek.

In her euphoria, Lorelai had no such constraint. She turned her face and kissed him without reserve. "Look, there she is! There's our Rory!" Her enthusiastic announcement ended in a happy sob.

Tabitha pushed a box of tissues their way and kindly let them have their moment of semi-private celebration.

Eventually Luke got himself under control. He raised his head and stared at the monitor, willing himself to see the hands and feet and legs and head that everyone else assured him were there. To him, it was like trying to see the Magic Eye posters that were all the rage back in the '90s. He never could make those out, either. But he had faith. "Hi, Rory," he said softly, watching as some of the squiggles moved about. "Hi, sweetheart."

"Ready to move on to Baby B?" Tabitha asked, sliding the instrument to the other side of Lorelai's bump.

"Yes." Luke was the one with the eager answer this time.

"We're in luck. This one is feeling photogenic today." She glanced over at them. "Are you ready to hear?"

"So ready," Lorelai confirmed, still squeezing Luke's hand.

"Then you're getting a full house with one of each. This one is all boy."

Lorelai yelped in excitement, but the news hit Luke harder than he expected. Again, he ducked his head down against Lorelai, trying to hide the tears he couldn't contain.

"Oh, babe," she whispered to him, stroking his hair. "Shh, it's OK. Look! We did so great!"

"Yeah, I know." He wiped his eyes and kissed her again. "I just can't believe it."

"All is well in our universe now," she murmured, just for his ears. "We're all present and accounted for."

"So who's this?" Tabitha asked, pointing at squiggly blob number two. "I assume he's getting a name better than Baby B?"

Luke drew a deep breath. "Yeah, this is Jess." He paused for one more moment, just to make sure he'd be able to say the words without losing his composure. "Hi, Jess. We're – we're so glad to see you."

"We are!" Lorelai gushed. "You're just as beautiful as your sister!"

"I love it when parents come in already knowing the names," Tabitha confided to them. "It makes the moment that much more special, when the moms and dads already know who the little ones are." She finished saving the images and measurements she'd taken of Jess, the former Baby B. "So, Rory and Jess, huh? Those names are a little unusual, especially for twins. Is there a story behind them?"

Luke and Lorelai exchanged a glance that spoke volumes, for those who knew how to read the book they'd been writing together.

"They're…family names," Luke hedged. "Names from...uh, other sides of our family."

"Names of the family we're meant to have," Lorelai added, smiling at him.

"That's nice," Tabitha commented, and printed out a long strip of black and white pictures of their babies for them to take home.

* * *

 _The End_

* * *

 **End Notes -**

When I wrote "Wedding in the Hollow," I spent a lot of time looking for meaningful vows and dialogue for everyone to say at Luke and Lorelai's wedding. This was the blessing I finally had Rory repeat at the end of the ceremony.

 _"May the love that has grown between you be a blessing to all those around you, binding everything together in perfect harmony._ _ **An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance.**_ _The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break. May you both always be open to each new thread that comes into your lives – and may you weave them into a brilliant and beautiful life."_

I found it at a site called _Wedding Planning Words_ , but when trying to research it further, it's been attributed as a Chinese proverb and an ancient Native American blessing. Apparently it's been around for a long, long time.

I didn't remember it until I was well into writing this story, and I was then filled with regret that I didn't pick "The Invisible Thread" as the title. I suppose I could go in and edit it now, but that would just be confusing for everyone, so I'm using it as the epilogue title. (And maybe…for an actual novel some day? After all, this story clocks in at something around 115,000 words. That's novel-length, people. Go mark it down at Goodreads!)

* * *

A huge thank you to **Eledgy** for finding the time in her insanely busy schedule to read my chapters before I posted them and pointing out anything that was problematic. Yours is an opinion I always trust.

Thanks to all of you who read the crazy synopsis for this story and decided to read it anyway. I hope it was worth it!


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